Basic Elements
by Hannah554
Summary: AU, The Great Apocalypse is approaching and only the combination of the elements can stop it. ShepWeir RononTeyla
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own Stargate Atlantis**

**Dedication: To Steph7085, my fabulous friend and beta.**

**Basic Elements**

Chapter 1

For centuries the Secret Council watched over the galaxy ensuring its survival. They worked in shadow exposing themselves and there existence only when they had to. Many times the galaxy came close to ending, to being completely destroyed but the Secret Council and its agents were able to prevent it. A government developed, the Republic, ruling over the planets blissfully unaware of the dangers around them, of how often and how close they came to being destroyed.

The Republic soon learnt of the Secret Council, their desire to be the one and only ruling body caused them to feel threatened. They outlawed the Council and declared that anyone working for them was a traitor. Many of its agents were lost either captured and imprisoned by the Republic or left out of fear. The Council was forced to work in shadow, the Republic was still unaware of the dangers but the Secret Council knew what was still to come, the great apocalypse.

Marcus Lorne stood in the great chamber in the centre of the wooden semi circular table. The ceiling was high above him and the stone walls were completely bare. The fires that burned around the edges of the room were the only source of light and the orange glow of the flames provided an eerie yet mystical atmosphere to the room. The men that were currently standing around the table were backlit by the fire, casting their faces into shadows and masking their identities to anyone who didn't already know who they were.

"Marcus Lorne," a familiar male voice said. "You have been summoned before the council because you are one of our best and most trusted agents. We have a mission for you of the utmost importance, the main reason that this council was created."

Lorne remained quiet as he waited for the council members to continue and the voice of a woman took over. "There are things that are kept secret even from our agents. There is an ancient weapon that will destroy all life in the universe. We are as yet unaware of the nature of the weapon or it's location but we do know how to stop it."

"How is that?" Lorne spoke for the first time since entering the room.

"The prophesy states that when the elements are combined the weapon shall be destroyed."

"The elements?" Lorne asked not quite sure he was understanding what he was hearing.

"The basic elements of the universe, they have taken human form though the people are unaware of the great power that exists within them. As long as they remain in the dark about their powers they will remain dormant but once they find out they will begin to manifest themselves," Another member of the council informed him.

If it wasn't for the fact that he was standing in the chamber of the Secret Council and it was the council that were telling him this he would have though it was some sort of elaborate joke. He had been an Agent of the Secret Council for years now and with the exception of two of them the members of the council were overly serious and arrogant. There was no doubt in his mind that every word he was being told was true. He had seen a lot in his life, his father had been an Agent of the SC and Marcus had been raised to follow in his footsteps but this was by far the craziest thing he'd ever heard.

"What is my mission?"

"To gather the elements, we have been tracking them since their birth. Your first location is the planet Talos where two of the elements reside, fire and water. There will be those who will attempt to stop you from completing your task and we should not have to remind you to avoid the Republic. You leave in one hour"

"I understand," Lorne stated before turning and walking toward the large wooden doors. The two guards opened them for him and he stepped through feeling the slight rush of wind and hearing the thud that indicated they had been closed behind him. He walked down the hallway which was lit by actual electricity along with the rest of the building. It was the location of the Secret Council's headquarters, its location was known only to the council and its few remaining agents. If the Republic were ever to learn of it's location they would undoubtedly arrest anyone they found and destroy the entire base. It would bring an end to the SC and everything they were trying to do.

- - -

"Lorne," a voice called as he entered the docking bay and he tuned to see one of the only two members of the council he actually liked. He was nothing like the others, he was serious only when he had to be and even then he would usually have some sarcastic remark or joke that was only funny to him.

"Councillor O'Neill," Lorne greeted as he approached the man.

"We're giving you a bigger ship," O'Neill stated and gestured to the large ship that was docked behind him. "Agent Lorne meet the Aurora."

Lorne had to admit it was impressive but he preferred to stick to his own. "What's wrong with my old one?" he questioned.

"It's not big enough," O'Neill informed him. "There are enough rooms on this one to accommodate the elementals."

"The autopilot and weapons systems are also much better aboard the Aurora," a female voice stated and he turned to see the other member of the council he got along with.

"Councillor Carter," he acknowledged as the woman approached.

"Lorne," she replied. "The Aurora's a good ship and she's all yours."

"Alright," Lorne accepted somewhat grudgingly, he was sure it was a great ship but he liked to know he could trust his ship and his old one had never let him down.

"I'm sure you're aware of the civil war there is on Talos, what the council failed to inform you is that the two elementals are on opposite sides," Jack told him.

"Well that's great," Lorne stated sarcastically.

"Here," Jack said handing him a small data pad. "It has the necessary information on the first two elements, including an image of them so you'll be able to recognise them. They also each have a mark on their arm left arm, the symbols for their elements."

"Thanks," Lorne replied as he took the data pad.

"Good luck Agent Lorne," Jack told him. "You're going to need it."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence."

"It's not a lack of confidence in you but a very in depth knowledge of the situation."

"This wouldn't happen to be knowledge you'd care to share would it?" Lorne asked already knowing the answer.

"You'll learn when the time is right, but I will say this, the Secret Council are not the only ones who know about the elementals," Jack informed him cryptically which was very unlike him leading Marcus to believe the Council didn't know much more and didn't want him to find out.

"This mission keeps getting better and it hasn't even started yet," Marcus stated and Jack smiled in amusement.

"Just be careful, don't make any unnecessary stops."

"Good luck," Sam finished and Marcus nodded before heading over to his new ship and walking up the ramp. Closing it behind him and heading for the bridge, he quickly plotted a course to Talos and engaged the ships engines. Taking off from the ground and piloting it out of the large hanger bay and into space. He engaged the hyper drive and allowed the autopilot to take over.

He took his backpack through to one of the bedrooms and unpacked his things. It would take him at least a few days to reach Talos so he had plenty of time to adjust to his new ship. The Aurora was like most Secret Council ships; it could easily pass for a smugglers ship and therefore could more easily avoid unwanted attention.

Satisfied his things were in some semblance of order he went to explore the ship ignoring the remaining bedrooms knowing they would be pretty much identical to his own. He found the kitchen and eating area down the corridor and soon after located the fully stocked armoury. The engine room was much the same as the one from his old ship except bigger and he could see a few differences in the engine.

After exploring the majority of the ship he made his way to the kitchen with the small data pad O'Neill had given him. Locating the food that had been stocked aboard the ship he decided to just grab an apple as he sat down and started reading through the information on the water elemental.

This was going to be an interesting mission.

TBC


	2. Chapter 2

**Steph7085 **– Your welcome for the dedication and thanks for your review. I love Lorne too!!! He's my fave recurring character ever. I hope you enjoy chapter 2.

**Izzles** – Glad I have you hooked already, hope you enjoy this chapter and thanks for the review.

**Comanche-Antigo** – Thanks for the review, I'm glad you liked the first chapter and I hope you enjoy chapter two as well.

- - -

Chapter 2

Talos was a dangerous planet that anyone with half a brain and any decent amount of common sense would avoid. However Marcus wasn't known for his brains or his common sense and he was on a mission. So he found himself descending through the atmosphere above the northern hemisphere of the planet. There had been a civil war on Talos for over a hundred years and he doubted that either side remembered exactly why it had started.

He landed the ship at the co-ordinates he'd been instructed to and headed to the back of the ship. As soon as he'd lowered the ramp several armed men approached him and he held his hands up to indicate he wasn't armed. One of the men patted him down before allowing him to disembark and he was immediately faced with another man. This one he recognised from his brief transmission to the planet. He was wearing what was obviously an Adraysan military uniform.

The Adraysans owned the entire Northern hemisphere of the planet and tended to recruit a lot of outside help. That was how his first Element had ended up here, he was originally from Earth and for some reason had left and come here.

"Mr Lorne, you said you were coming here to search for someone, they must be very important to you if you're willing to risk coming here," the man greeted.

"They are, I'm looking for a man named John Sheppard do you know him?" Lorne asked.

"I know who he is, one of our best soldiers, what do you want with him?"

"I'm a friend of the family," Lorne lied knowing he couldn't tell them the truth and hoping it was enough.

"He's currently out in the field."

"I need to speak with him immediately," Lorne stated.

"I'm sure we can arrange something, we'll have to transport you to the outpost near where he's fighting. It will be a great risk, the area he is fighting in is very dangerous," the man told him as if hoping to put him off.

"I'm not afraid, arrange the transport."

"Of course," the man said before walking away. Lorne watched him go and sighed to himself, this was going to be difficult.

- - -

The sounds of gunfire and explosions filled the air mixed in with the calls of men and women trying to be heard above the noise. Every explosion threw dirt up into the air that would fall back down on anyone near by. The gunfire from both projectile and laser based weapons rained down constantly across the field and would increase every time someone attempted to move from one place to another. Occasionally an ear piercing cry would break through the blanket of endless sound that covered the battlefield. Each one indicating that another man or woman had been injured or killed.

John Sheppard ran from one ditch to the next avoiding the explosions and gunfire that attempted to kill him. He dropped into the relative safety of the large whole and his green eyes searched for his commander keeping his head low as he moved from one end of the ditch to the other. He had been informed that the commander wanted to see him and just his luck; he'd been at the opposite side of the battle field when he'd received the message. He had run between five ditches and somehow had managed to make it all the way here without being killed.

Locating the face of his commander he moved toward him and sat down next to him in the ditch. Dirt rained down on them from a nearby explosion and he had to shout to be heard over the noise.

"You wanted to see me sir?"

"Sheppard, you're being recalled, there's a transport waiting to take you to the nearest outpost," his commander shouted.

"What?!" John exclaimed. "We're in the middle of a battle here!"

"My orders are to send you back, time to go, he's taking you," the commander told him and gestured to a young man sitting nearby.

"Good luck sir," John shouted reluctantly.

"You too, now go."

John headed over to the young man who would be escorting him away from the battle and to wherever his transport was hidden. They left the ditch and immediately came under fire as they ran across the field. As they headed away from the enemy the amount of gunfire and explosions around them lessened until they reached the tree line and were able to slow to a walk.

"Wanna tell me what the hell is going on?" John asked as the young soldier uncovered the car that would transport them to the outpost.

"I don't know sir, I was just told to come and get you," he stated as he pulled away the camouflage blanket and got into the drivers seat. John climbed into the passengers seat keeping his weapon in his hand in case there was anyone lurking amongst the trees.

"How long to the outpost?"

"Forty minutes sir."

- - -

Marcus waited patiently in his small room at the Adraysan outpost. He had arrived two hours ago and was waiting patiently for John Sheppard to be brought back from the field. The small room was sparsely decorated with just a couple of couches, a desk and a few other basic items.

The door finally opened and a man walked into the room that he recognised from his file as John Sheppard. He looked a little exhausted and the Adraysan uniform he was wearing was still covered in dirt from the battle he had just come from.

"John Sheppard I presume," Marcus greeted as he stood up and offered the man his hand.

"And you are?" John asked as he shook his hand.

"Marcus Lorne, I was sent here to find you," he told him and gestured to one of the couches before the two men sat down.

"By who?"

"What I'm going to tell you is going to sound completely insane but you have to listen to me because every word of it is true," Marcus informed him and waited until John nodded his head slowly before continuing.

"Have you heard of the Secret Council?"

"Yes," John answered. "The Republic outlawed them."

"Well we won't get into that," Lorne stated bitterly. "I am an Agent of the Secret Council and I risk exposing my identity to you because I need your help. For generations the Secret Council has prevented the universe from being destroyed and despite being outlawed we continue to do so. There is a prophesy that a great weapon will destroy all life and there is only one way to stop it."

"This is the part that going to sound insane isn't it?" John questioned sarcastically.

"The basic elements of the universe have taken human form and they can stop the weapon. You are one of them, you are the water element," Lorne explained.

"You're right that does sound insane," John said and stood up to leave. Marcus quickly stood up having been prepared for this kind of reaction.

"It's the truth; you've always felt like you were supposed to be a part of something haven't you… that you were meant for something big. It's probably what brought you here and even now you feel like you're meant to be somewhere else." Lorne stated and John stopped in the door way. "This is it John, this is what you were meant to do and if you don't come with me now the universe will be destroyed. What have you got to lose?"

John turned around and looked at him trying to figure out if he was telling the truth. "My life."

"You're going to lose it anyway if you don't come with me." Lorne waited and watched as John seemed to struggle with whether or not to trust him. "You have a mark don't you, on your left arm?"

"How do you know that?" John questioned warily.

"It's a downward pointing triangle?"

"Yeah," John said lifting the sleeve covering his left arm to reveal the mark Lorne had described. "But how did you?"

"It's the symbol for water, your element." Marcus explained and John regarded him warily for several minutes before replying.

"Alright."

"Alright?" Lorne questioned.

"I'll come with you but if this is some sort of, I don't know, whatever, I'll kill you."

"Okay."

- - -

John and Marcus sat on the bridge of the Aurora as they took off from the Adraysan military building. This was going to be the hard part, he now had to go and land in the southern hemisphere and hope nobody from either side noticed he had been to both.

"So I'm the water elemental?" John asked curiously "And I'm supposed to have some sort of power?"

"Yes, whilst you didn't know about your power it was dormant, now that you know the power should begin to manifest itself," Lorne explained.

"Okay, do you know where the other elements are?"

"I have only been informed of you and the fire element, once I have both of you I'll be given the file on the third."

"Okay so where's the fire elemental?" John asked and Lorne grimaced inwardly.

"He's on the southern Hemisphere of this planet."

"What?!" John shouted angrily.

"I know this isn't an ideal situation but I have to get you both. You'll just have to put your differences aside for now. When we've saved the universe you can both come back here and try to kill each other."

"This is not going to go down well; if they find out who I am they'll kill me you know that right?"

"Which is why you're going to keep your head down, keep quiet and go change out of that uniform" Lorne told him.

"Whatever," John replied as he left the room.

The ship finally descended onto the southern hemisphere and Marcus prayed that he'd be able to get in and out of there quickly without John being noticed or causing trouble. The ship landed in the port of the main settlement and Marcus and John left the ship keeping their heads down. They soon found themselves in the busy market place heading toward the military compound.

They approached the gates and Marcus informed the guard that they were looking for one of their officers and it was a matter of great importance. They were then escorted into the building and left in what looked like a briefing room. It was several minutes before a young man entered the room with guards on either side of him.

"I am Commander Danes of the Satedan military, what can I do for you?"

"We're looking for one of your officers, Ronon Dex," Lorne informed the commander who nodded his head.

"Well you're in luck; Ronon has just returned from a mission, I'll have him brought here to meet with you."

The commander left the room without another word leaving the two guards near the door way. Marcus and John sat down and waited for the fire element to be brought to the room.

"I know the name, Ronon Dex," John stated quietly so that the guards wouldn't over hear him.

"What do you know?"

"He's a big shot in the Satedan military, always successful in his missions and very loyal to his people," John explained.

Marcus was about to respond when the door opened once more and tall, well built man entered the room. His green eyes took in the two men sitting at the table from behind the dreadlocks that framed his face. The blue sleeveless t shirt he was wearing showed of his muscular arms and the small mark on the inside of his left arm. The upward pointing triangle that indicated he was the fire elemental. A flicker of recognition crossed his face as looked at John and for a moment they though they had been caught.

"Ronon Dex," Lorne greeted as he stood up. "I'm Marcus Lorne."

Ronon ignored the outstretched hand and looked at John as if trying to figure out who he was. John lowered his head more in an effort to keep the man from recognising him and Marcus tried to draw the attention back to himself.

"I need to speak with you of a private matter," he stated indicating the two guards at the door. Ronon waved them both out of the room and took a seat at the table.

"Do you know of the Secret Council?"

"Yes," Ronon replied.

"I'm one of its agents and they sent me here to find you, we need your help."

"Why would the secret council want help from me?" he questioned.

"We have spent generations keeping the universe from being destroyed and this will sound insane but it's the truth. There is a prophesy of a weapon that will destroy all life and there is only one way to stop it. The basic elements have taken human form and I have to gather them together to stop it."

"I'm in the middle of a war I don't have time for this," Ronon stated.

"You are one of the elements, you are fire."

"I don't know who the hell you are but I think you should leave," Ronon stated in a low voice and once again glanced at Sheppard. This time the recognition on his face stayed there. "John Sheppard how dare you show your face here."

"I don't want to be here any more than you want me here but in my defence I was forced to come."

Ronon drew his weapon to shoot the man and Marcus was forced to step in front of him. "You brought him here don't think I won't shoot you to get to him." Ronon told the SC Agent.

"You can't kill him; he's an element just like you. If you kill him the universe will be destroyed."

"Look," John said risking speaking. "I know this sounds insane I didn't believe it at first either but think about it. Don't you feel like you belong somewhere else, that you're supposed to be doing something else, that there is something inside you that's different to everyone around you and then there's this," John finished lifting the sleeve of his left arm to once again reveal the mark there.

"Where did you get that?" Ronon questioned.

"Had it since birth," John replied and Ronon locked eyes with him as an understanding passed between them. "If we're going to go anywhere we need to go now before someone else recognises him." Ronon stated and Marcus let out a relieved breath.

"Well at least no one got shot," he stated.

TBC


	3. Chapter 3

**Authors Note: I'm really sorry for taking so long to update this story, I promise not to take so long with the next update and I hope this chapter was worth the wait.**

**Steph7085 – **Thanks for the review, John and Ronon have a somewhat volatile relationship in this fic and I hope you enjoy it.

**CityGirl84 – **I'm glad you liked the first two chapters and I hope you like this one too. I know TPTB have named Lorne Evan but I started calling him Marcus long before that and it's kind of hard to break out of, I hope it doesn't affect the story for you. Thanks for the review and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Fyd818 – **I'm glad you like the idea with the element and that I got John and Ronon's elements right. The scene with the battle was my fave part of the last chapter to write and it's good to know it came out alright. Thanks for the review and I hope this chapter was worth the wit.

**Izzles – **Yep, that's the first two elements on board and I'm glad you liked the battlefield scene, it was my fave part of the last chapter to write. Hope you enjoy this chapter and thanks for the review.

**KTarra – **Thanks for the review, I'm glad you like the story so far and I hope this chapter was worth the wait.

- - -

Chapter 3

Marcus Lorne watched the stars fly past the front window as he sat on the bridge waiting for a response to the transmission he had just sent out. The small screen in front of him finally flickered to an image of Jack O'Neill.

"Agent Lorne," he greeted.

"I have the first two elements," he stated and watched as Jack nodded his head slightly.

"I trust it wasn't too much trouble."

"Piece of cake," Lorne replied sarcastically as Jack turned to look at someone off screen.

"Send it," he instructed before looking back at Marcus. "We are sending you the information on the third element, wind."

"Please tell me there's no civil war this time," Lorne said and Jack smiled in amusement.

"No war, if you managed to pull off the first two then this should be a cake walk, though I should warn you this one might be a little harder to convince than the other two," Jack stated. "Everything you need to know is in the file, good luck."

Jack's face disappeared from the screen and Lorne opened the files that had just been transferred into his ships system. He then looked at the door to the rest of the ship and realised for the first time that it was quiet. Why couldn't he hear John and Ronon arguing? They had been bickering almost none stop since they had left Talos and the fact that he couldn't hear them now was more than a little disconcerting. He stood up and headed toward the eating area to ensure they hadn't killed each other.

- - -

"So do you buy all this?" John asked Ronon as the two of them sat in the eating area. They had been arguing almost none stop since they had come aboard the Aurora and he had decided to take full advantage of the momentary break to find out what the man thought about their current situation.

"It sounds a little farfetched," Ronon replied.

"You believed it enough to come with us," John stated.

"Maybe I just came along so I could find the perfect way to kill you," Ronon told him and John stood up.

"You came because you believe every word Lorne said."

"Look, I don't like you so while we're stuck together we should probably avoid each other," Ronon suggested angrily.

"We're on a ship you moron, there's not many places we can go!" John shouted and Ronon stood up in outrage.

"Call me that again!"

"You heard me, you're a moron; most of you are!"

"You got something to say about Sateda?" Ronon asked the volume of his voice rising to match Johns.

"Yeah, you're all a bunch of vicious thugs!" John replied.

"If you don't want me to kill you right now I suggest you sit down and shut up!" Ronon replied unconsciously throwing his hands forward and suddenly a ball of fire seemed to appear from nowhere heading straight for John. John threw his hands up defensively causing an orb of water to appear which met the ball of fire in between the two men. There was a blast of wind as they collided each causing the other to disappear and leaving the two men standing there dumbfound.

"That was… different," John stated, both men were so caught up in what happened they didn't notice Lorne standing by the door having witnessed the whole thing. It took him several moments to recover his senses before he made his presence known.

"Are you two idiots trying to destroy my ship?!"

"We didn't do that on purpose," Ronon replied.

"I don't care, if the two of you weren't bickering like five year olds all the time that wouldn't have happened. I've had enough of both of you and this stupid personal war. Your civil war on Talos was stupid enough but this is ridiculous. Yes a hundred years ago an Adraysan Commander had a Satedan Council member assassinated and the Satedan King retaliated by having the Adraysan Council building bombed. It was a hundred years ago, get over it!" Lorne shouted and stormed off in the direction of the bridge.

John and Ronon stared at each other for a moment before the ship lurched violently almost knocking both men over. "What the hell was that?" John asked once he had recovered enough.

The two men headed toward the bridge where Marcus was sat trying to avoid being hit by whatever was being fired at them.

"What's going on?" Ronon asked.

"We're under attack, what do you think is going on?" Lorne answered distractedly.

"I can see that but by who?" Ronon questioned in frustration.

"How the hell do I know?" Lorne shouted as the ship lurched again and the console beeped indicating an incoming transmission. Lorne quickly pressed a button and a face appeared on the screen.

"I am Nall of the Genii, we out number you, give up and prepare to be boarded," Lorne sighed, the Genii were known for attacking ships and stealing their cargo. Fortunately so long as the people co-operated they were usually left alive, usually. "If you co-operate you will not be harmed," Nall continued as if reading his mind.

"Fine," Lorne stated angrily and stopped his ship. "I give up and am prepared to be boarded," he mocked and Nall smirked before disappearing from the screen.

"We're giving up just like that?" John questioned.

"We can't afford to get blown up; the SC loaded the ship with cargo supplies so that we would look just like a cargo ship. They can take those then they'll leave and we can go on our merry way," Lorne explained as he stood up and headed toward the docking hatch. A few moments later Nall and several armed men emerged from the hatch.

"Where is your cargo?" he asked.

"Right this way," Lorne stated angrily and led Nall down the corridor and into the cargo bay where several boxes were stacked up.

"Take it all," Nall told his men who immediately got to work.

"Oh come on, you could at least leave us a few boxes," Lorne stated and Nall smirked once again. John and Ronon stood quietly behind Lorne trying not to draw attention to themselves. When all of the boxes had been taken they followed Nall back to the hatch. He looked at Ronon and John for a moment, his eyes focusing on their left arms unnoticed by the three men.

"It's been a pleasure doing business with you," Nall stated as he left the ship. They heard the tell tale signs of the docking clamps disengaging and headed back to the bridge. The Genii ships all disappeared into hyper space and Lorne quickly reengaged his own hyerdrive and resumed his previous course.

"Now what?" John asked,

"Now we go and get the third element."

"Yeah," John started as he left the bridge. "Well, let's hope this one isn't argumentative."

"Was that another dig?" Ronon questioned as he followed him.

"Damn right."

Lorne sighed as he listened to the two men arguing as they walked away from the bridge. Their voices would have faded to the point where he couldn't hear them if not for the fact that they had started shouting again. He got up and followed them hoping to prevent then from blowing up his ship with their uncontrolled powers.

- - -

Nall nervously walked into the office of his commander, he would have been far more nervous if not for the information he was carrying. Though the commander was known for his brutality he knew the information he had guaranteed he'd get out intact maybe even with a promotion. He knocked on the door with only a moments hesitation and awaited the muffled 'enter'.

He walked into the large office, decorated with dark colours and the odd ornament here and there. It reflected the occupants personality perfectly, dark and empty. The commander was sitting behind his dark wood desk, his cold brown eyes watching Nall with impatience.

"Commander Kolya," Nall greeted managing to conceal the small wave of fear that had struck him the moment he had walked in.

"What is it?" Kolya questioned his impatience quickly turning into annoyance.

"I have information I believe you would want to know, concerning the prophesy of the apocalypse."

Kolya gaze quickly changed from one of cold annoyance to cold curiosity as he gestured with a slight movement of his head for Nall to sit in the chair opposite him. "Well?" he questioned.

"I believe the Secret Council has begun to gather the elementals together. When we attacked what appeared to be a smuggler or cargo ship we discovered two men with the elemental symbols on their arms," Nall explained.

"The time of the great apocalypse must be close," Kolya stated thoughtfully. "Do you have the name of the ship?"

"Yes, the Aurora."

"How many people were onboard?"

"That we saw, only three," Nall informed him.

"Thank you, that will be all for now, dismissed," Nall quickly stood up and left the room. Kolya watched him leave with a malicious smile on his face - after all these years of waiting it was finally time.

TBC


	4. Chapter 4

**Tara Juliet Miller – **Thanks for the review, I'm glad you like my stories and I hope you like this chapter too.

**Fyd818 – **I'm glad you liked the scene where they finally used their powers and Lorne's line about his ship. I don't know why but I really love writing Kolya as my bad guy in my fics, thanks for the review.

**Steph7085 – **Thanks for the review, glad you liked the fight between John and Ronon and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Ktarra** – I hope you like this chapter, thanks for the review. 

**Alexis – **Thanks for the review, I'm glad you like this story and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

- - -

Chapter 4

After days of travelling aboard the Aurora, listening to John and Ronon bickering and watching fireballs and water orbs fly around the ship they finally arrived at their next location. Earth was a relatively peaceful planet and was the location of the wind element. They landed in the cities main docking bay and searched for the address they had been given.

It took them an hours worth of wrong turns but they finally found the house they were looking for. It was massive with at least three floors and huge gardens surrounding it. Ronon and Lorne stared at the house slightly in awe.

"Can we just hurry this up?" John questioned unfazed by the house but seeming somewhat nervous. He had been visibly agitated since he had found out they were coming to Earth and had only gotten worse since they had arrived.

"We can't really just barge in there," Lorne stated. "According to her file she lives here with her parents, we need to get her alone to talk to her. If we tell anyone else this they'll just assume we're insane."

"You're assuming we're not," Ronon responded and Lorne glared at him as a young brunette came out of the house.

"That's her," Lorne announced as she walked toward the large gate that separated them from the house. "Oh yes, that's it make it easy for us."

She walked through the gate and Lorne followed after her.

"Ms Weir," he called trying not to sound like some psycho stalker.

"Do I know you?" she questioned as she turned to look at him.

"No, you don't," Lorne replied. "But," he sighed struggling to find a way to explain this again. "Do you know of the Secret Council?" he asked deciding for the direct approach.

"Doesn't everyone, it's not much of a secret," she stated.

"Yes, well, we used to be," he mumbled under his breath.

"We? So you're from the Secret Council?"

"Yes, they sent me to find you," he told her.

"Why?"

He sighed figuring he may as well just get it out. "Because there's a weapon somewhere in the galaxy that will destroy all life as we know it and the only way to stop it is to find all of the human form elements of which you are one," he summarised and Elizabeth looked at him curiously.

"What?" she asked.

"You are the human form of the wind element, big guy here is fire and this is water," Lorne explained.

"You're all insane," she said as she turned and walked away. They all watched her go and stood there in silence for several minutes before any of them spoke.

"That could have gone better," John stated receiving two glares in response.

"Okay we'll try again later, we could do with getting some more supplies anyway," Lorne informed them as he headed in the direction of the market they had passed through earlier.

"Actually," John began. "I think I'm just going to take a walk to clear my head, I'll meet you back here."

"Fine," Lorne said, it would probably mean a break from his and Ronon's constant bickering anyway. "Back here, two hours."

John nodded his head in agreement before heading off down the street. He headed directly for the large park that was nearby and walked through it. The park's atmosphere served to calm him as he had known it would. It was a large park so it seemed relatively empty, just the odd person walking past.

He was mildly surprised to see Elizabeth Weir sitting on a bench beneath the trees. He studied her for a moment, she seemed lost in thought, her face held an expression that was all too familiar. One he had worn many times before he had joined the Adraysans to help them fight their war.

"Ms Weir," he said as he approached. "Mind if I sit down?"

"It's a public bench, I can't really stop you," she replied and he took that as a yes and sat next to her.

"Why are you here?" she asked after several moments of silence.

"Earth or the park?" he asked.

"I think I know why you're on earth," she told him sarcastically. "Why are you in the park?"

"I needed to clear my head, this park always helped me do that," he informed her.

"You've been here before?" she questioned her voice both curious and surprised.

"I used to live here, I was born here, grew up here."

"Really?" she questioned sounding only half interested.

"I know what it's like, being born into a rich family and growing up to be nothing like your parents. All the parties and the social events that you don't want to go to, people doing everything for you when you'd prefer to just do it yourself. Overbearing parents that have all these expectations of you, that want you to live the life they've laid out for you, that feeling of being suffocated by it all."

Elizabeth was silent during the entire speech but he could tell from the look on her face that every word was hitting a nerve. "I know you just want to get away and you feel like you're supposed to be doing something else - that you're supposed to be a part of something bigger than this. I know I always did, that was why I left. I just packed my bags, told my parents I was going and hitched a ride on the first transport out of here," he continued.

"How'd your parents take it?" she asked.

"Not well, they told me if I left I was cut off and should never set foot in their house again." John informed her with a small note of sadness in his voice.

"I'm sorry," she told him quietly.

"It was a long time ago," he informed her. "When Marcus showed up and told me the same story he told you I thought he was insane too but somewhere deep down I knew he was right. Some part of me knew it was the truth and it couldn't ignore him. Then we picked up Ronon and the two of us have been accidentally throwing fireballs and water orbs at each other ever since. Jerk set me on fire yesterday," he informed her and she smiled slightly at the thought.

"Do you have a mark on your arm?" he asked her and her hand unconsciously moved to the exact place on her left arm that the mark should be. He turned his own arm over slightly so that she could see his own mark. She then gently lifted the sleeve of her jacket so that he could see hers. It was an upward pointing triangle with a line through the middle. The symbol for wind he was guessing.

"I don't know," she said hesitantly as she pushed her sleeve back down and John knew he was going to have to try and prove it to her, he looked around and saw that no one was around. Closing his eyes he ignored her curious gaze and focused his mind on what he wanted to do. He opened his eyes again focusing on the air in front of him and raising his hands. The water orb appeared it was tiny especially compared to the ones he's been tossing around by accident but it was there. He continued to focus and the orb grew bigger until he finally sent it flying into a nearby tree and let out a breath.

He turned to Elizabeth whose eyes had widened in shock and disbelief. "How did you do that?"

"Water elemental, that's my power," he told her.

"That's amazing," she stated her shock still evident.

"You have a power too, we all do. We just need to learn to use them."

"I'm going to regret this, especially if you all turn out to be a bunch of murderous psychopaths… but I'll help you," she told him and he nodded. "Now all I have to do is tell my parents, they're never going to let me leave."

"Don't let them stop you," he instructed. "Just tell them and run," he joked and she laughed lightly. "Do you want me to come with you?"

"I don't even know you," she stated in amusement.

"But for some reason you completely trust me," he replied with a smile.

"Yeah."

"I have that effect on people," he told her as he stood up and offered her his hand. She accepted it reluctantly as she stood up and they headed back toward her house. She let them in the front gate and into the house. The entrance hall was very similar to the one his parents had had. They walked up the huge staircase ignoring the curious stares and whispers of the houses staff as they went to her bedroom.

"So how many rumours do you think have just spread around this house?" he questioned with a small laugh.

"Probably a lot," she told him as she located her backpack and started tossing her clothes in. "The grapevine in this house is unbelievable, my parents will know you're here before we even get out of the room."

"That'll be a fun conversation," he stated sarcastically.

"You know what?" she questioned in amusement. "This is stupid but I don't actually know your name."

"John, John Sheppard."

It didn't take her long to pack the things she needed and before long they were heading back down the stairs. They both grimaced inwardly as they realised her parents were stood at the bottom of the stairs. He heard Elizabeth take a deep breath as they walked towards them and he decided it would be best to keep his mouth shut unless spoken to.

"Mother, father, this is John, he's a friend of mine," she informed them and they both studied him with a disapproving gaze.

"Are you planning on going somewhere?" her mother asked her.

"Yes, I'm taking a trip."

"You are not," her father replied adamantly.

"Yes I am," she told them even more adamantly.

"We are your parents you will do what we tell you to and we are telling you that are to remain here."

"No," she told them simply, "This is something I have to do and I am going to do it with or without your approval."

"Elizabeth, you walk out of this house and you are cut off," her father stated.

"Then I guess this is goodbye," she told them as she gestured for John to follow her.

"Elizabeth don't you dare!" her mother shouted as they walked out of the house but Elizabeth ignored them and headed toward the gate.

"Believe it or not, that was actually far more civil than my departure," he informed her.

"I can't believe I just did that," she said sounding surprised at her own actions but there wasn't a trace of regret in her voice.

"But don't you feel better?" he questioned.

"Than I have in a long time," she replied.

"John!" he heard Lorne's voice shout and turned to see him and Ronon heading toward them. "What are you doing?"

"Having a conversation," John replied "One that you're interrupting."

"I thought you went for a walk."

"I did, I ran into Elizabeth and convinced her to come with us."

"You did?" Lorne asked in surprise and John nodded, Lorne looked at Elizabeth questioningly and she too nodded.

"I already packed," she said gesturing to her backpack which John was carrying for her.

"Well alright then, time to go," Lorne stated and turned to head for the ship. Ronon eyed them both curiously before he followed him and John gestured for Elizabeth to precede him before he too followed after them falling in step beside Elizabeth.

TBC


	5. Chapter 5

**Izzles – **I'm glad you liked Ronon's line in the last chapter and the scene with John and Liz will hopefully be the first of many Sparky filled scenes to come. Thanks for the review and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Tara Juliet Miller – **Thanks for the review, I'm glad you liked the last chapter. Congratulations by the way and I can't think of any DanJan baby fics at the moment, I know I've read some though. I'll try to find them and let you know. I hope you enjoy this chapter.

Steph7085 – I'm glad you liked the scene with John and Elizabeth (joins in chanting). Thanks for the review and I hope you enjoy this chapter. 

**Fyd818 – **I had to have John's line about Ronon setting him on fire in the last chapter and I'm glad you liked it. The scene in the park has been my favourite to write so far and it pretty much wrote itself lol. Good to know you liked the final scene and I hope you enjoy this chapter too, thanks for the review.

MalSheppard – Thanks for the review, I'm sorry if the description of the powers seemed a little rushed, I've never wrote anything like that before so I hope it gets better. I hope you enjoy this chapter. 

**LilleJorun – **Thanks for the review, I'm glad you like my stories and the idea of using the elements. I got addicted to fanfiction after the first one I read oh so many years ago, I hope you enjoy this chapter.

Jannickie Nordlie – Hello Tiril's little sister, thanks for the review, I'm glad you like my stories and thank your sister for recommending this one for me. I love Sparky too and I hope you like this chapter. 

- - -

Chapter 5

They finally made it through the busy market place without getting separated and were heading for the docking bay where their ship was waiting for them. Ronon and Lorne and were still slightly ahead of John and Elizabeth, the four of them had chosen to walk in silence rather than try to shout over the crowd. Once they were clear of the majority of people Lorne turned to Elizabeth.

"So how did he convince you to come with us?"

"He gave me a very nice speech and showed me his powers," Elizabeth replied simply.

"You controlled your powers?" Lorne asked him in surprise.

"Well, sort of. It took a lot out of me and it wasn't nearly as impressive as all the orbs I've been accidentally trying to drown Ronon with," he explained.

"That's still pretty impressive," Lorne informed him as they continued walking. The sound of a gunshot had them all stopping and turning around. They barely had time to register the men wearing Genii uniforms before they were forced to take cover from the bullets being sent there way.

John grabbed Elizabeth's arm pulling her inbetween two buildings as Ronon and Marcus took cover at the opposite side of the street. The three men fired the weapons they had holstered at their side but they knew they were outnumbered. Marcus locked eyes with John signalling for him to get Elizabeth to the ship whilst he and Ronon provided cover fire. John nodded his understanding and waited for the right moment to make a break for it.

His hand reached for Elizabeth's and he held it tightly as he watched Marcus who nodded a moment later. He and Ronon started firing as John ran out from between the buildings pulling Elizabeth along with him. They ran down the street as bullets continued to head their way narrowly missing them several times. He ran as fast as he could never letting go of Elizabeth's hand. They reached the bottom of the street and ran around the corner. Finally able to stop John turned around and glanced back at where Marcus and Ronon were still firing. A moment later they too made a break for it heading in his direction, the Genii not far behind.

He continued running still holding onto Elizabeth's hand and only a few minutes later they were approaching their ship. Fortunately both he and Ronon had been given a remote to access the ship and he lowered the ramp as he ran. He didn't release his grip on Elizabeth until they were on the bridge, he started up the engine and waited for Marcus and Ronon to arrive.

He heard Marcus's voice over the ships intercom telling him they were on board and to take off. John did as instructed and flew them out of the docking bay and into space. He laid in a random course and entered hyperspace before turning to look at Elizabeth.

They were both out of breath from their long run and she looked at him a little warily as he turned to her. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," she replied breathlessly. "Why are people trying to kill us?"

"I don't know," he told her honestly as Marcus and Ronon walked onto the bridge a little breathless but otherwise fine. "Why are people trying to kill us?" he repeated her question to Marcus.

"That was the Genii again, they must know who you are somehow," Lorne informed them as John moved out of his seat and Lorne sat down.

"But how would they know?" Ronon questioned.

"I don't…" Marcus began to reply but trailed off as he looked at Ronon's arm which was exposed by the vest top he was wearing. "The marks on your arms, the Genii who stole our supplies must have seen them. The Council warned me other people would be after you, I guess now we know who."

"I need to sit down," John said as he walked off the bridge closely followed by Elizabeth and then Ronon. He made his way to the kitchen and dropped into one of the chairs at the table. Elizabeth sat down next to him and Ronon leaned against the counter.

"This just got a whole lot more complicated didn't it?" John questioned.

"Yep," Ronon responded simply.

- - -

Marcus sat back in his seat for several minutes as he caught his breath and considered how much the Genii's interference would affect his mission. He leaned forward and pressed several buttons which established a secure transmission to SC Headquarters. A young woman's face appeared on the screen.

"Agent Lorne, request to speak with Councillor O'Neill," he stated and the young woman nodded her head.

"One moment please," she stated before the screen went blue and a few moments later Councillor Carter appeared obviously in her office.

"Sorry Lorne, Jack's busy at the moment, what can I do for you?" she questioned with a friendly smile.

"I have the wind elemental," he told her simply and her smiled widened.

"That's great, I'm sending you the information on the earth element," Carter informed him and the console beeped indicating the file was coming through.

"We have another problem;" Marcus informed her, "The Genii seemed to have found out about the elementals. They attacked us as we were leaving Earth, we were lucky to get away."

"The Genii have known about the prophesy for many years though at first they seemed disinterested in it. If they know you have the elementals with you then you are in far more danger than before. Their leader is a man named Kolya, it was after he took over ten years ago that the Genii began to show some interest in the prophesy," she explained.

"You knew they were after the elements, why didn't you tell me?" he questioned angrily.

"We wanted to; we were forbidden from revealing any more information than the council gave you. They thought it would alter yours and the elementals decisions to get involved if you knew. We did our best to warn you without actually telling you anything," Carter told him and Lorne thought back to the cryptic warning O'Neill had given him before he had left headquarters.

"Anything else I should know?" he asked her and she pursed her lips together in a thoughtful expression.

"Nothing I can tell you about yet," she stated apologetically. "Just know the first part of your mission is far from over."

"Cryptic," Lorne stated in exasperation.

"I know but it's the best I can do, you've done well so far, keep it up," Carter said as her face disappeared from the screen. Marcus sighed as he sat back in his seat and tried to figure out what her cryptic comment had meant.

- - -

John quickly stepped out of the path of the fireball that was flying across the room. It hit the wall of the kitchen and disappeared as Ronon looked semi apologetically at John.

"Why are those always heading in my direction even when I haven't done anything to make you mad at me?" John questioned and Ronon shrugged.

"Must be a subconscious thing," he stated and John glared at him.

Ronon turned away and closed his eyes once again trying to use his powers. John had been having almost as much trouble; it seemed that the control he'd shown on Earth had been more of a fluke. Elizabeth's powers had slowly begun to emerge though she seemed to be getting frustrated with it.

Another fireball came heading his way and it wasn't until he heard Ronon's 'heads up' that he noticed. He all but dived on the floor and he was sure the fireball had singed his hair. Once it was safe to stand he jumped to his feet glaring daggers at Ronon.

"You did that on purpose!" he shouted angrily.

"No I didn't."

"Yes you did!"

"I warned you didn't I," Ronon defended his voice rising to match John's.

"Only because your conscious got the better of you at the last minute!"

"Both of you shut up!" Lorne shouted from where he stood in the doorway into the room but the two continued as though they hadn't heard him.

"Hate to break it to you Sheppard but not everything is about you!" Ronon yelled, his own anger clearly beginning to flare.

"Enough," Elizabeth shouted and both John and Ronon were hit with a sudden blast of air that sent them flying across the room. They slammed into the wall at the other end before dropping to the floor. Marcus and Elizabeth stood there in shock for a moment before running over to the two men.

"Ouch," John said as he rolled onto his back.

"I don't think ouch covers that," Ronon responded as Lorne dropped to his side.

"I am so sorry," Elizabeth said, still clearly stunned at what she had done as she tried to help John sit up.

"Don't be sorry it shut them up," Lorne told her and she smiled slightly but she was still clearly upset about what she had done. John sat himself up and looked at her with a serious expression.

"Don't worry, it's really not your fault besides… we were asking for it," he said glancing at Ronon.

"Yeah forget about it," Ronon added and Elizabeth nodded her head gratefully.

- - -

Ronon strode onto the bridge after the ship had stopped suddenly, John and Marcus were already there and Elizabeth was just a few seconds behind him. They weren't supposed to arrive at their next destination for another few days and he couldn't think of any other reason they'd be stopping.

"What's going on?" he asked and Marcus ignored him as he concentrated on whatever he was doing. It was John who was standing on the other side of the bridge that answered him.

"Republic checkpoint," he stated providing all the necessary explanation.

"All of you put your jackets on and meet me at the docking hatch and no powers," Lorne stated as he stood up and walked off the bridge. The others quickly followed, Ronon went to his room for his jacket and John and Elizabeth picked up theirs from the kitchen. The marks on their arm hidden, they joined Marcus at the docking hatch just in time for the republic inspectors to arrive.

One of them was a man, slightly taller than John but still dwarfed by Ronon's taller frame. His brown eyes wore an expression of seriousness that must have come from too many years serving the Republic. His partner was a woman, her red hair reached to just below the shoulders of her dark blue uniform and combined with her green eyes to make a very attractive combination.

"Names and purpose," the man stated as several other republic officers emerged from behind them and headed into the ship.

"I'm Marcus Lorne, the captain, this is my crew, John Sheppard, Elizabeth Weir, and Ronon Dex," Lorne replied. "We're a cargo ship, on our way to a pick up."

The woman turned to Elizabeth. "How long have you been a member of the crew?"

"A year," Elizabeth answered immediately.

"And what exactly is your job?"

"I negotiate for better pay, I'm a trustworthy face so I can get us more jobs than these three can."

"And you?" she said turning to John. "How long have you been here and what exactly is your job?"

"Two and half years and I'm the pilot," John replied.

"And finally you?"

"Two years and I'm the muscle," Ronon stated giving her the cover story they had all been given when they'd boarded and the woman nodded seeming to find their answers sufficient.

One of the officers that had disappeared into the ship returned. "Everything appears to be in order, there's no illegal cargo and nothing suspicious in the ships computer."

"Very well, have everyone return to our ship."

The inspectors left the ship and everyone sighed in relief. "What happened to the files in the computer, the ones about us?" Ronon asked curiously.

"I deleted all of your files and uploaded the Earth element onto a data pad which I hid in a secret compartment in my room on the way down here. John, go and resume our course."

John nodded his head and quickly left, Elizabeth headed back to her room and Ronon decided to get in some more practice with his powers. He was so close to controlling them he could feel it; he just needed a little more practice.

TBC


	6. Chapter 6

**Jannickie Nordlie – **Thanks for thanking Tiril and I'm glad you liked the last chapter. I hope you enjoy this one too and thanks for the review.

**Steph7085 – **Thanks for the review, I'm glad you like this story and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Fyd818 – **Glad you liked the scene with Elizabeth tossing John and Ronon into a wall. I'd be scared if I had one of those symbols too but I'd be way to busy enjoy my cool powers to notice lol. Thanks for the review and I hope you like this chapter.

**Tara Juliet Miller – **I'm glad you found the baby stories and thanks for the review, I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**BelovedOne – **Thanks for the review, I'm glad I've kept the characters fairly close to canon and that you like the arguing between John and Ronon., and yes, fireballs very cool lol. I hope you enjoy this chapter.

- - -

Chapter 6

John had finally figured out the trick to controlling his powers, he had figured it out a few days ago and had spent most of his time since then practicing. The water orb in front of him was one of the biggest he had conjured up so far and he concentrated on holding it in place. So far he'd been able to create them and send them flying into things, usually Ronon. Now though he wanted to try ad control where it went, so he slowly moved it forward though it was taking up far more of his energy than usual.

Finally needing to stop he sent it flying into the wall and slumped into the nearest chair. He was definitely improving and even Ronon was beginning to show some level of control over his powers.

"How do you do it?" Elizabeth questioned from the doorway, he hadn't even realised she was there.

"Do what?" he questioned.

"Control your powers, I can't do it," she told him and he stood up as she walked toward him.

"You can do it, you just need to figure out how," he informed her and she sighed clearly exasperated by the whole thing. "Here I'll show you."

He walked over to the draw nearby and pulled out several candles. He lit one of them and put it on the table before taking a few steps back. He focused on the candle and a small orb of water appeared jut above it lowering toward the candle until it came in contact with the tiny flame and extinguished it.

"You have to focus on what you want to do not on using your powers themselves, like when you sent me and Ronon crashing into the wall the other day. You weren't focusing on using your powers you were focusing on wanting to make us shut up… and you did," he told her smiling humorously as he lit another candle and placed it on the table. "Focus on blowing out the candle."

Elizabeth looked at the candle trying to blow it out but nothing happened and after several minutes she sighed in frustration. "It's not working," she said as she started to walked away but John grabbed her hand and pulled her back.

"You're still focusing in on using your powers not on the candle," he stated as he turned her to face the candle again. He stepped up close behind her so his lips were so close to her ear she could feel him breathing. "Close your eyes," he said barely above a whisper and waited until she had done as he had told her to. "Now focus completely on the candle, on wanting to blow out that flame. Open your eyes and keep focusing on what you want to do."

Elizabeth opened her eyes slowly her focus on the candle and a gust of wind came from behind them, it was nothing incredible just a light breeze but it blew out the candle. Elizabeth relaxed and smiled "I did it," she said turning her head toward John only to realise exactly how close he had been standing to her.

"Yeah you did," John replied in a whisper as he stared at her intensely and for a long moment neither one of them could tear their eyes away from the other. It was Elizabeth who finally looked away and took several steps forward to separate them.

"We should get some sleep," she said quickly "We'll be picking up the earth element in the morning."

"Good idea," John said and he watched as she walked out of the room heading towards her bedroom.

- - -

Marcus resisted the urge to shoot John and Ronon as they were landing on Geldar. The two men were bickering about who had started their previous argument, he couldn't believe they were actually arguing over who had started their arguing, it was ridiculous. As the ship finally came to a stop in the cities main space dock he turned to the still arguing men.

"Both of you shut up or I'm going to lock you in a room together for the next few hours," he informed them and both men immediately shut up, the thought of being stuck together providing enough reason to keep quiet for now. "Okay, we know the earth element is somewhere on this planet but we don't know exactly where. We're going to split up to search, Ronon you'll come with me, Elizabeth you'll go with John. Don't lose your communicators and contact me if you find anything."

Everyone voiced their agreement and Marcus watched as John and Ronon glared at each other as Elizabeth dragged John out of the room. He didn't offer any resistance and after being dragged the first few steps he turned and followed Elizabeth willingly. Marcus shook his head before he too headed for the ramp at the back of the ship. John and Elizabeth were already out of sight by the time Marcus and Ronon left the ship and he used the small control in his hand to close the ramp behind them.

"Come on, this way," Marcus said gesturing for Ronon to follow him and the tall man did so without question. They left the space dock and entered the hustle and bustle of the cities busy market place. The streets here were pretty rough and the various gangs were the ones in charge.

"There's gotta be over a thousand people just in this market place alone, how I we suppose to find the elemental?" Ronon questioned after they had been searching for over an hour.

"A little bit of luck," Marcus replied with a smile as he spotted the earth element running through the crowd up ahead of them. "There," he informed Ronon pointing at the man that was stumbling toward them. They made their way over to him and Marcus grabbed the man by the shoulders as he attempted to run past them.

"Rodney McKay?" Marcus questioned.

"Please don't kill me," the man said immediately.

"Relax, we're not going to kill you," Lorne stated and the man looked at him warily for a moment.

"You don't work for Louis," he told them visibly relaxing though he did shrink back a little when he looked at Ronon.

"No we don't, we need your help. I work for the secret council and they sent me to find you," Lorne informed him and Rodney nodded his head emphatically.

"Okay, sounds like fun, let's go."

Marcus stared at him wondering why he was so willing to leave when he didn't even know why they wanted his help. Deciding not to look a gift horse in the mouth though he simply gestured for him to follow them back to the Aurora. Why did this seem a little to easy?

- - -

John and Elizabeth searched the streets for over an hour, he didn't like it here, more specifically he didn't like having Elizabeth here. She had been leered at more times than he cared to count and he was just waiting for someone to actually try something. Meanwhile the women, most of whom he assumed were working the streets, kept staring at him.

The communicator that was attached to his belt began to beep and he picked up the small device and pressed the button that would answer it. "What is it?" he asked knowing it could be only one of two people that were trying to contact him.

"We have the earth element, you can come back to the ship," Lorne's voice informed him.

"Aww, but I was enjoying taking in the sites," he stated.

"Just get back here," he instructed him and John muttered a sarcastic 'yes sir' before cutting off the transmission and returning the device to his belt. He was just turning around to head back when he saw the men in Genii uniforms that were blocking their way. They were heading in their direction and John knew they needed to get out of sight quickly.

He grabbed Elizabeth's hand and pulled her into the narrow space between two buildings. He watched as the men got closer and ducked his head back around the corner when they reached them. To his dismay they stopped walking right next to the gap they were hiding in and sat down on some boxes nearby.

"Exactly how does he expect us to locate them here," one of the said clearly exasperated with the task he'd been given.

"I don't know but we've been walking forever, I need a break, I don't think he'll know if we sit down on the job for a while," another replied as the small group made themselves more comfortable and John sighed as he realised they weren't going anywhere soon. He turned to look at Elizabeth who was in front of him and due to the narrowness of the gap her body was pressed against his own. It took him a moment to realise he hadn't let go of her hand. Fortunately she was still watching the Genii and hopefully had yet to notice their current predicament.

He looked down the gap only to discover that a few feet away was a brick wall, they were boxed in to their very tiny space. He looked back to Elizabeth her face was so close to his neck he could feel her breathing and he had to force his body to stop reacting to it. He slowly let go of her hand but the loss of contact seemed to attract her attention and he cursed silently. She looked up at him with green eyes he was sure he could lose himself in and mentally shook himself.

He manoeuvred her to the side of him nearest the wall so that he could continue to watch the guards. He relaxed a little when her body was no longer in contact with his and reached for the communicator on his belt.

"Lorne do you here me?" John questioned in a whisper hoping the Genii wouldn't here him.

"I hear you," Lorne stated.

"Elizabeth and I are trapped, the Genii are blocking our way back to the ship, we took cover so they haven't seen us but now we're stuck," he explained as briefly as possible.

"Where are you?"

"In between two buildings, listen just stay with the ship, we'll join you as soon as we can," John told him and there was silence for a moment before Lorne replied.

"Alright, we'll wait here, get back here as soon as possible," Lorne replied before the transmission cut off.

John turned to Elizabeth who was stood silently watching him "Guess we're going to be stuck here a while."

"Guess so," Elizabeth replied and smiled "It could be worse, you could have got stuck in here with Ronon."

"You're right things could be much worse," John stated, though he didn't really think the situation was a bad one. The Genii didn't know where they were and he really didn't mind being stuck in a small space with Elizabeth. In fact apart from the less than comfortable conditions the narrow space provided the situation wasn't bad at all.

- - -

"When are we leaving?" Rodney asked for the sixth time. The man seemed far too impatient to get off this planet and Lorne couldn't help but wonder why. Now was not the time to worry about that though. John and Elizabeth were trapped on the planet somewhere and there wasn't anything he could do to help. If he tried to find them he risked not only exposing them but himself and the other elementals as well. He also couldn't keep the ship where it was for much longer, if the Genii were here then it was only a matter of time before they found the Aurora.

"We're leaving when we're leaving," Lorne replied to Rodney's question.

"Well what's the hold up?"

Lorne exchanged a brief glance with Ronon who was leaning on the door way behind Rodney. They hadn't told him about the Genii yet, come to think of it they hadn't told him anything yet.

"We're still waiting for two of the crew to arrive," Lorne explained, not exactly the truth but it wasn't a lie either. "Why are you so willing to come with us when you don't even know who we are?"

The man looked scared for a moment as if he didn't have an answer for them, at lest not one he wanted to share. He opened and closed his mouth several times in an effort to speak but unfortunately for him no sound came out.

"Answer the question," Ronon said standing up straight and taking a step closer to Rodney.

"I…I…just ran away from my overbearing father and I want to get out of her before he finds me," the man explained and whilst Marcus was fairly sure that wasn't the whole truth, if any at all, he was willing to let it go for now.

"Well if you're going to be joining us you should be aware we have more than our fair share of people after us," Lorne explained knowing it wouldn't be fair not to tell him this right from the start.

"What do you want with me anyway?" Rodney asked.

"Well…you see…there's this prophesy of a weapon that will destroy the universe and only when the basic elements of the universe are combined can we stop it," Lorne told him.

"Elements, you mean wind, fire, water and earth?"

"Those are the ones."

"And they've taken human form?" Rodney questioned incredulously.

"Yeah and you're one of them, you're the earth element."

Rodney stared at him for a moment in disbelief before he seemed to regain his senses "You're insane."

Marcus was getting real sick of being called insane by everyone he met and he was glad this was the final person he'd have to explain this to. "It's true, he's the fire element, show him," he instructed Ronon who nodded his head in understanding.

Rodney turned to look at Ronon who concentrated on the air in front of him and slowly but surely the small fire ball appeared. It grew until it was about the size of a persons head before Ronon made it disappear again.

"Nice control," Marcus complimented as Rodney stood there wide eyed and clearly in shock. A few seconds later the man suddenly collapsed and both Ronon and Marcus dropped to his side.

"He fainted," Ronon declared after he had checked Rodney over and both men smiled in amusement.

- - -

John and Elizabeth were still trapped in their narrow space watching the guards to ensure they weren't discovered. The gap was too small for them to even sit down in so they had been stuck standing there for almost an hour. John's legs were beginning to ache and he was bored beyond endurance.

"This is taking too long," John stated in exasperation.

"Well, it's not like we have much of a choice but to stand here," she replied with a shrug of her shoulders and John sighed leaning his head on the wall behind him. She moved to stand next to him, her shoulder brushing his as she too leant against the wall. "Why do you and Ronon argue all the time?"

"We were both fighting in the civil war on Talos, he's Satedan and I was fighting for the Adraysans," he explained.

"Well that explains a lot," she stated "I've heard a lot about that war, it think it's stupid."

"War in general or just that one?"

"I don't like war but I do recognise that sometimes it really is unavoidable but the war on Talos is ridiculous. To be fighting a war for so many generations when the people who started it all are long since dead."

John had to admit, she was right but he wasn't about to admit that out loud. His main reason for getting involved with the war was simply the chance to fight for something bigger than himself. Movement in the corner of his eye caught his attention and he turned to see the Genii soldiers stand up obviously getting ready to continue their search.

"About damn time," John commented as he watched the Genii head away from them and he turned to look at Elizabeth. "Time to go."

He stepped out of the gap and checked to make sure the soldiers had in fact gone and that their were no more lurking around. He then gestured for Elizabeth to follow him and they both made their way back to the ship.

TBC


	7. Chapter 7

**Jannickie Nordlie – **Thanks for the review and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Fyd818 – **I love Rodney too lol. I'm glad you liked his introduction as well as the scene with John helping Liz control her powers. The stuck in the narrow space scenes were my favourite to write in the last chapter so im glad they turned out alright. Thanks for the review and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Steph7085 – **I'm glad you liked the scene with John and Liz stuck in a narrow space they were my fave to write. Thanks for the review and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Moonlightfaery – **Yep this is an AU, it seems I can't get enough of them lately. Thanks for the review, I'm glad you like the story and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Izzles – **I'm glad you like the Sparky moments in this story especially the stuck in a narrow space part. Teyla's identity will be revealed soon and it's a bit of twist, hope you enjoy this chapter, thanks for the review.

- - -

Chapter 7

John and Elizabeth finally arrived back at the Aurora having avoided several groups of Genii soldiers. They walked up the ramp closing it behind them. They headed for the bridge but before they got there they heard noise coming from the ship's infirmary. John stayed in front of Elizabeth as they followed the sound to discover Marcus and Ronon hovering over a man's body.

"You made it then?" Lorne questioned rhetorically as they entered the room.

John nodded and gestured to the man lying on the bed "That the earth element?"

"Yeah, meet Rodney McKay," Lorne replied.

"What happened?" Elizabeth asked.

"He fainted," Ronon stated and both John and Elizabeth had to suppress a smile "I used my powers and he fainted."

"Well I suppose we can't blame him," John reasoned "It is a lot to take in."

"I'm going to get us out of here, stay with him, I'll be right back," Lorne instructed them all as he left the room. He knew they needed to get off Geldar as quickly as possible, with the Genii searching for them it was a miracle they hadn't been found already.

"Where'd you find him?" John asked Ronon after Marcus had left the room.

"Running through the market, we didn't even have to tell him who we were or what we wanted with him, he just came with us. He was very eager to leave," Ronon replied.

"That's not at all suspicious," John retorted as he felt the ship take off.

"He said he was running away from home," Ronon told them with a shrug.

"And you believed him?" John questioned.

"No, but we had other things to deal with at the time," Ronon explained and John left the conversation there and went to sit down on one of the empty beds. Elizabeth joined him, sitting next to him as they waited for Marcus to return. They felt the hyper drive engage and a few moments later Marcus walked back into the room.

"Are you going to contact the council and tell them you have him?" Ronon asked gesturing to the man still lying unconscious on the bed.

"Not yet, if the Genii are here then they have ships around here somewhere too and I don't want them picking up the transmission. I'll wait until morning and contact them then," Lorne told them.

Their attention was drawn to the bed as Rodney emitted a small groan indicating he was waking up. Marcus moved to the side of the bed and waited until the man opened his eyes and blinked several times.

"You're real?" Rodney questioned obviously having thought he'd dreamt the last few hours.

"Yep," was Lorne's brief reply.

"And the big guy… he really…" Rodney trailed off as if to search for the right words.

"Created a ball of fire out thin air?" Lorne finished for him "Yeah."

"What happened to me?" Rodney asked.

"You fainted," Lorne informed him and Rodney looked somewhat embarrassed for a moment before sitting up. He looked at Ronon warily for several seconds before turning to look at Elizabeth and John.

"Hey," John said with a two fingered wave at the man.

"They're the other elements," Lorne told him "John Sheppard, the water elemental and Elizabeth Weir, the wind elemental."

"Nice to meet you," Elizabeth greeted barely keeping the humour out of her voice at the man's baffled, wary expression.

"Ronon, why don't you show Rodney to his room," Marcus suggested and Ronon nodded his head in silent agreement. He left the room with a scared looking Rodney following him.

- - -

Elizabeth walked into the kitchen to put and end to the noise that was emanating from that room. She entered the room and sighed when she saw John and Ronon shouting at each other once again. It was the middle of the night and they still managed to argue with each other.

Neither man had noticed she was in the room yet and she watched them for a moment to try and figure out what they were fighting about. It sounded like John had been in here making himself a midnight snack when Ronon had walked in and stolen it. She rolled her eyes, the pair of them were like five years old. It was the fire balls that started flying around the room first followed by the water orbs. A fire ball came hurtling towards her head and she ducked down to avoid it. It flew over her head impacting the wall behind her.

She stood up straight and decided to put an end to this before they killed someone or woke up Marcus and Rodney. "Will you two stop," she shouted above the noise and the two men turned to look at her. "It's the middle of the night and some of us are trying to sleep."

Both men had the good grace to look ashamed and sufficiently chastised at least for now. "Sorry," they both mumbled.

"I don't want sorry," she informed them "I want peace and quiet for a few hours so those of us who aren't mentally five years old can get some sleep."

If either man had a reply they never got to voice it, the ship lurched suddenly knocking them all of balance. Ronon fell into the chair behind him whilst Elizabeth fell to the side. John's arm went around her waist to catch her preventing her fall as he placed his free hand on the wall to steady them both. They felt the tell tale signs of the ship dropping out of hyperspace before Ronon stood up, clearly not happy about being knocked off his feat "Now what?"

John let go of Elizabeth as he headed through the doorway that led to the bridge and Elizabeth followed him with Ronon right behind her. The ship lurched again throwing them all into the wall of the corridor. When they finally made it to the bridge John dropped into one of the chairs and Elizabeth sat in another as Ronon stood behind them. One of the consoles was beeping insistently at them trying to inform them of the incoming transmission. John hit the button and a man's face appeared on the screen. They all recognised him as the Republic Inspector who had been aboard the ship a few days ago.

"Cut your engines and prepare to be boarded," the man stated.

"Is there a problem, you inspected our ship a few days ago," John reminded him as Lorne and Rodney arrived on the bridge. Elizabeth looked at the sensor readings noting that there were five Republic ships surrounding them. She tugged on Marcus's shirt to get his attention and gestured to the readings. Marcus looked down at what she was pointing at and gave her a concerned look. They both knew the only reasons the Republic would come after them with five ships is if they intended to arrest them.

"Stop your ship and prepare to be boarded," the man instructed them again.

"We're on our way to a pick up we're already late for," John stated and he was sure he heard Rodney muttering something about just doing as they asked.

"We know that you are working for the Secret Council and therefore are under arrest for treason," the inspector informed them calmly.

"We don't work for the Secret Council," Lorne lied.

"If you do not cut your engines immediately you will be fired upon."

John's hands hovered over the controls as he looked at Marcus for instructions. They couldn't stop, if they did they would be arrested and imprisoned, possibly executed and then they'd have no chance of stopping the weapon before it destroyed the universe. Marcus nodded to John who immediately cut off the transmission and increased the ship's speed. The Republic ships opened fire and John dodged and weaved his way around most of it.

Ronon and Marcus had grabbed hold of the nearest surface to brace themselves for the shots John wasn't able to avoid. Rodney however stumbled into Ronon who grabbed him and pushed him into the only remaining chair. John couldn't get the ship away from the Republic ships that were surrounding them. The Aurora was a big ship and didn't dodge and weave as well as a smaller ship would have. As another shot impacted the ship there was a small explosion and they started leaking atmosphere. Ronon immediately moved to seal the breach as John once again unsuccessfully tried to get away from their attackers. They wouldn't be able to go into hyperspace until they had cleared the Republic ships.

"I can't get free of these guys," John stated and Lorne moved to the seat Rodney was sitting in. He grabbed his arm and pulled him out of the chair before sitting in it himself. He began pressing buttons on the controls and within a few seconds the ship in front of them exploded as it was hit by the Aurora's weapons fire.

"Now go!" Lorne called but John was already piloting the ship through the gap Lorne had created. Once he was clear enough of the Republic ships he engaged the hyper drive.

Elizabeth watched the sensors intently for any signs they were being followed and when several moments went by with no sign of their attackers she sighed in relief. "They're not following."

"How do they know we're working for the Secret Council?" John questioned.

"I don't know," Lorne responded "But we should all get some sleep, I'll contact the Council in the morning."

"Okay," Rodney said as he walked off the bridge.

"And one more word out of either of you and I'll shoot you," Lorne informed John and Ronon before he too turned to leave the bridge. Elizabeth smiled slightly before glancing once more at the sensors, reassured they weren't being followed she stood up and headed to her bedroom. John and Ronon also left the bridge without a another word to each other as they headed in separate directions to their rooms.

- - -

Lorne slumped into the chair on the bridge and immediately hit the sequence of buttons on the console that would send a transmission to the Council. The elements were all sat in the kitchen eating breakfast. Thank fully John and Ronon had been civil to each other all morning and Marcus was glad for the break from their arguing.

"Agent Lorne, request to speak with Councillor O'Neill," he stated when the young woman appeared on his screen.

"One moment please," the woman told him and Lorne wasn't even paying attention when the screen went blue. A few seconds later O'Neill's face appeared on the screen.

"Agent Lorne, good to hear from you," Jack greeted his voice drawing Lorne's attention back to the screen.

"I have the earth element," Lorne stated.

"What not even a hello?" Jack questioned humorously and Marcus was caught between smiling and rolling his eyes.

"Hello Councillor O'Neill, how are you?" he placated.

"I'm just great Lorne and how are you?" Jack asked clearly amused with himself.

"Tired, we got attacked by the Republic in the early hours of this morning, they know we're working for the Council," Lorne explained and Jack's face became serious.

"That's not good," Jack stated obviously.

"I know, they could have at least waited until a decent hour," Lorne quipped before moving the subject back to the mission. "The earth element is on board."

"Well done, you're doing incredibly well, I'm sending you the file on the final element," Jack informed him and Marcus sat up straighter.

"What, I have all the elements."

"No you don't," Jack said simply and Lorne could feel his frustration building.

"There are only four elements, earth, wind, fire and water, I have all four of them," Marcus stated adamantly. Sam's words from his last communication with the council came back to him 'the first part of your mission is far from over'.

"There's a fifth element," Jack explained and Lorne sighed, "The fifth element is energy, look I don't have time to go into detail about this, everything you need is in the file, good luck agent Lorne."

The transmission cut off and Lorne was left to stare at the blank screen. There was a fifth element, he knew he shouldn't be surprised, with all the twists this mission had taken already nothing should surprise him but this did. Why had the council not told him there were five elements? They had kept all the important details of this mission from him and it was making it harder to do his job.

He looked down at the console to where a small light was indicating that he had received the file on the fifth and final element, at least it had better damn well be the final element. He hesitated in reaching for the control, perhaps there was a reason they had kept the fifth elements existence from him. Maybe there was something about this person they hadn't wanted him to know until he had to.

He pressed the button to download the file onto a data pad and made his way to the kitchen. John and Ronon still weren't arguing at least not with each other, they seemed to have at least temporarily allied themselves against Rodney who by the sound of it had insulted their intelligence levels. Elizabeth was sat with a book in her hand ignoring the squabbling men in front of her.

"Listen up," Marcus called and everyone stopped what they were doing and turned to look at him. "We have another element to pick up."

"That's not possible, there are only four elements," Rodney stated as if it was the most ridiculous thing he'd ever heard.

"Well apparently we have a fifth, energy," Lorne told them and Rodney looked like he was about to protest but Ronon kicked him under the table eliciting a small yelp of pain from the man who then immediately shut up when Ronon glared at him. "I haven't read the file yet so I can't tell you anymore than that, just thought you should all know."

Everyone watched as Marcus left the room before Rodney turned angry eyes on Ronon "What the hell did you kick me for?"

"Because you're a know it all," Ronon answered him with another glare that made Rodney shrink back.

"A fifth element," Elizabeth mused quietly.

"Well this is definitely getting more and more interesting," John stated.

TBC


	8. Chapter 8

**Jannickie Nordlie – **Glad you liked the fifth element idea and thanks for the review, hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Izzles – **Thanks for the review, I'm glad the fifth element was a surprise and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Louise – **Thanks for the review, I'm glad you like this story and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Fyd818 – **The scene with Liz walking in on John and Ronon arguing was my favourite in the last chapter so I'm glad you liked it. I'm also glad you liked the fight with the Genii, I always worry about my action scenes. Ronon kicking Rodney under the table just kind of popped into my head whilst I was writing that scene so I just put it in there. Thanks for the review and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Steph7085 – **I'm glad you liked the last chapter and you'll find out who the fifth element is in this chapter. Thanks for the review.

**Manah – **Thank you so much for your review, I'm glad you like the story so far and I hope you enjoy this chapter too. I do plan to write a sequel to Separate Ways I just need to wait for my SG1 muse to come back, right now I'm totally hooked on Atlantis AU's but I'll get to it eventually.

- - -

Chapter 8

The Aurora descended through the atmosphere of Athos to the co-ordinates the file on the fifth elemental had specified. Lorne watched the clouds pass by the front window of the bridge. The final file had told them the final element was in fact already in the hands of the Council. Athos was the location of an SC base that was kept secret even from it's agents, the only people who knew where it was were those working there and the councillors themselves.

The sensors picked up several small crafts heading in their direction and within moments the crafts had pulled alongside them. A beeping sound informed him they were receiving a transmission and Lorne quickly pressed the button to answer it.

"State your purpose on Athos," the male voice instructed him and Lorne immediately noticed the hidden codes in the transmission. Members of the SC would hide the code in their transmissions so that other SC members would recognise it but anyone who didn't work for the council would never know what it was.

"Agent Lorne of the Secret Council, I'm expected," he told them and there was silence for a moment probably as the pilot confirmed his words.

"Proceed to the following co-ordinates," the pilot told him before cutting off the transmission and there was another beep indicating he had received the co-ordinates. He took the ship in that direction and as he approached the mountains that were there he noticed the large hole big enough to fly the ship into. He did so and found himself in a large docking bay with several other ships. He landed the ship and gestured for the elementals who were stood behind him quietly to follow him.

When they walked down the ramp they saw the face of a man who Marcus had thought was long since dead. "Daniel Jackson," he greeted shaking his head, "I have to say I didn't expect to see you here."

"Rumours of my death were greatly exaggerated," he informed the agent with a smile "You'll find you see lot of faces you never thought you'd see again here."

It made sense, Marcus thought to himself, if you were going to keep a base secret then you should keep the people working there a secret too. "Well it's good to see you."

"You too, I take it these are the elementals," Daniel stated "I'm Daniel Jackson, the commander of this base," he introduced himself before turning to Marcus. "How about I take you to the fifth element?"

"Sounds like a good idea," Marcus told him. The file on the final element had been very, very vague. When Jack had told him everything he needed was in the file he meant the location of the element. There had been no other information, not about the persons name, their history, nothing.

They all followed Daniel through the corridors of the base which looked nothing like the cave it actually was. They entered a large room that had some sort of capsule in the middle and Marcus looked at Daniel in confusion.

"The fifth element is in there," Daniel stated and something in his voice told Marcus that part of what Daniel was going to tell him didn't sit well with him.

"I don't understand."

"The fifth element already knows about her powers, she was the only one we decided to tell. She was very powerful, her powers grew quickly and the council became afraid of her. They were concerned that her powers would grow beyond her ability to control. They decided to put her in stasis, they put her to sleep and placed her in this capsule to maintain her body functions," Daniel explained.

"You just let them do this?" Marcus asked in shock.

"I'm not happy about this either, Jack, Sam and I have been trying to get the council to release her since they put her in there four years ago."

"Daniel," a petite woman with brown hair said as she walked over and Marcus recognised her immediately.

"Janet," he said in surprise "I thought you got shot and killed on a mission."

"I got shot," she said with a shrug "But I didn't die, the council took it as an opportunity to reassign me here so I could over see this," she told him the disgust in her voice as she gestured to the capsule obvious, apparently she didn't agree with what the council had done either.

"Well, I'm glad," he told her with a smile which she returned before turning back to Daniel.

"We're ready to wake her up," she stated and Daniel nodded his head before the woman walked away. She started shouting orders at the various people around her who hurriedly carried them out. A few moments later the capsule hissed with a release of air and pressure as the top part began to move upwards. Once the steam from the release had cleared they could see a young woman lying on the surface of the capsule. She had brown hair and was wearing dark blue trousers with a light blue top.

Her eyes opened almost immediately and she sat up straight, her brown eyes taking in her surroundings. The look on her face morphed from confused and disoriented to angry in just a few seconds. Marcus watched her pin Daniel and Janet with a glare as they approached her, he didn't think she'd gone into that capsule willingly.

"Teyla," Janet said as she cautiously walked to stand beside the young woman who was already moving to stand up.

"What the hell did you people do to me?" she asked furiously.

"The council put you into a stasis pod Teyla," Daniel explained "I'm sorry."

"How long have I been in there?"

"Four years," Janet replied and Teyla looked stunned for a moment before anger once again replaced it.

"You took away four years of my life!" Teyla shouted.

"The council were afraid you'd lose control of your powers, we tried to stop them Teyla but there wasn't anything we could do," Daniel explained trying to calm the woman down.

"Let me guess," Teyla began "It's time for me to fulfil the prophesy so they thought they'd be kind enough to wake me up."

"Yes," Daniel answered and Teyla shook her head. She was clearly still angry but the expression on her face said that she would let it go for now.

"The other elements?" she asked and Daniel turned to look at the people in question.

"John Sheppard, water, Elizabeth Weir, wind, Rodney McKay, earth and Ronon Dex, fire," Daniel introduced gesturing to each of them in turn "And this is Marcus Lorne, one of our agents, he'll be ensuring you're able to carry out the prophesy. Everyone this is Teyla Emmagan, the energy elemental."

Teyla nodded her head in greeting to them all before turning back to Daniel "Did you find the weapon yet?"

"Actually yes, we only figured it out a few days ago but we know where it is," Daniel replied and gestured for them all to follow him. He took hold of Janet's hand as they headed through the corridor. Marcus shook his head at the typical display of affection between the two, it was strange seeing them acting like that when fifteen minutes ago he'd thought they were dead. A few years ago he'd been used to seeing it, he'd even been present at their wedding.

Daniel led them to another room this one much smaller and full of files and star charts. He guessed this was where they had worked to learn the location of the weapon.

"The prophesy stated that the weapon could be found 'under the two suns where the horse and the eagle meet'," Daniel informed them and Marcus found himself sighing, he was getting real sick of cryptic clues.

"And that means?" John asked.

"It's a location, the horse and the eagle refer to two nebulas, one the shape of a horse and the other an eagle. There's only one planet where you can see both of them at the same time and this planet also happens to have two suns," Daniel told them.

"Okay so where's this planet?" Marcus asked.

"It's about a two and half week journey from here, we're restocking your ship for the journey now. This data pad has the location of the planet on it," Daniel stated handing Marcus the small pad.

"We'll also be adding a member to your crew," Janet informed them "He's one of my best doctors, he'll be able to patch you up and keep an eye on Teyla for any side effects," she said sending an apologetic look in Teyla's direction. As if on cue the doors to the room opened and a young man with sandy brown hair and blue eyes walked in.

"The medical supplies have been taken aboard," he reported and a huge grin spread across Lorne's face at the sight of him.

"Carson!" he exclaimed moving to hug the man "You were suppose to have died in that explosion."

"Well I didn't," Carson replied.

"And you didn't think to call and let me know?" Lorne questioned humorously. He'd known Carson since they were kids, they'd both been the sons of SC agents and as such had grown up together. It had hit him hard when Carson had reportedly died, not that he'd admit that to anyone.

"Would have defeated the point of pretending I was dead," Carson explained with a smile.

"I feel like I'm in a room full of ghosts," Lorne stated.

"I did tell you that you were going to be seeing lot of faces you never thought you'd see again," Daniel told him.

"We're sending Carson with you," Janet informed them and Lorne smiled.

"Well I guess they are worse people you could be sending with us," he joked eliciting a mock glare from his friend. "I suppose we should get going, we have a long journey ahead of us."

There were a few murmurs of agreement before they all headed back toward the docking bay. Marcus stopped several times to talk to people he thought were long since dead but they eventually made it back to the ship.

"Good luck," Daniel said shaking Marcus's hand and giving the others a curt nod before putting his arm around Janet.

"Take care of yourselves," Janet added and they all agreed to try before they walked up the ramp and made their way to the bridge. Lorne piloted the ship out of the mountain and back into space before setting a course for the weapon and engaging the hyper drive. He then turned around and took in the unlikely group behind him, they were definitely an odd mix.

"Ronon, why don't you take Teyla to some quarters?" Lorne suggested and the tall man nodded his head in agreement before gesturing for the young woman to precede him through the door. He watched them leave before John, Elizabeth and Rodney followed him muttering something about practicing with their powers.

"Well I guess I'll show you to your quarters," Marcus told Carson "It's good to see you again."

"Aye lad, it's good to see you too," Carson replied and Marcus led him out of the bridge.

- - -

Rodney was quickly becoming frustrated with his powers, or lack of. He'd been aboard the Aurora for a week now and his powers had yet to show themselves. John, Ronon and Elizabeth all seemed to be quickly learning to control theirs and Teyla, well no one had actually seen hers yet but from what they'd been told she was pretty powerful. He however had yet to even discover what his powers were and it was infuriating to say the least.

He didn't even know if he'd be able to discover what his power was whilst he was on the ship. He was the earth element after all and there wasn't whole lot of earth in space. He heard several sounds coming from the kitchen and eating area that told him John and Elizabeth were practicing their powers again and he was fairly sure he could hear a few of Ronon's fireball too. His thoughts were confirmed when he heard John shout at Ronon for burning his jacket.

The ship suddenly shook violently drawing Rodney out of his miserable thoughts and back to reality. It definitely felt like weapons fire and with how many people they seemed to have after them it was logical to assume they were under attack again so he was most likely going to die. At least he wouldn't have to worry about his damn powers anymore.

He stood up and left the room heading in the direction of the bridge to find out who was trying to kill him now. Behind him the plant that was on the table where he'd been sitting suddenly grew slightly.

He made it to the bridge after being bashed into the walls and various other surfaces several times. Was the person flying the ship actually trying to avoid the weapons fire or were they just flying straight into it. Marcus was sat in the pilots seat and John was manning the weapons console whilst Teyla sat at sensors. That meant all the seats were taken and he would simply have to stand. Elizabeth was holding onto the back of John's chair and Ronon had one hand on the back of Teyla chair and the other on the console. Carson was holding on to a beam that hung from the ceiling leaving Rodney with very few options of what to hold onto for support.

Before he could figure it out the ship lurched violently once again and he found himself being thrown to the floor with a crash.

"McKay, find something to hold onto," Ronon voice shouted from across the bridge and Rodney noted it wasn't in a concerned way but more in exasperation. He stood up and decided to take hold of either side of the door frame.

"Who's shooting at us now?" he questioned.

"Don't know" Marcus said his concentration clearly on flying the ship "Its not Republic or Genii."

"We've got a transmission coming in," Teyla stated and Marcus glanced at her briefly before turning his attention back to piloting.

"Put it on the screen," he instructed and Teyla did so. Rodney gulped when he saw the face of their attacker appear on the screen, oh crap, he knew him.

TBC


	9. Chapter 9

**Manah – **Congratulations on guessing it was Teyla and I'm glad you liked the little Daniel and Janet part I added in, I couldn't help myself lol. Thanks for the review and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Fyd818 – **Sorry about the evil cliffie, I'm glad you liked the Daniel and Janet part, I couldn't help myself lol. I loved writing the scene where Teyla woke up so I'm glad you liked that too and Rodney was so much fun to write in the last chapter. Thanks for the review and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Steph7085 – **I'm glad you liked the Daniel and Janet part of the last chapter and I can't believe they did that Teyla either – and I wrote it lol. I hope you enjoy this chapter and thanks for the review.

**Jeanette Hanson** – The idea just popped into my head, I've never seen W.I.T.C.H. but now I'm rather intrigued. I'm glad you liked the story and I hope you enjoy this chapter too, thanks for the review.

**Swedishgirl** – Thanks for the review, I'm glad you liked the story and I hope you enjoy this chapter. 

- - -

Chapter 9

The ship shook as they were impacted by more weapons fire and Rodney stared fearfully at the face on the screen. Fate hated him, it was the only explanation, how could they have found him here?

"Surrender now," the man stated as weapons fire continued to shake the ship and there was a small explosion.

"If you quit firing at us then perhaps we can talk," Lorne shouted over the noise and the man smirked and ordered his people to cease fire. "That's better, now who are you and why the hell are you firing at my ship?"

"I am Tobias of the planet Geldar and I want Rodney McKay," he replied coldly and five sets of eyes turned on Rodney both curious and angry. "Hand him over and no one else will be hurt."

Marcus turned back to the screen "Could you just give us a minute?" he questioned and cut off the transmission before turning back to Rodney "Explain."

"I stole something from them," Rodney confessed immediately and started babbling when Marcus glared angrily at him "I used to work for him and he made me build a weapon that incinerated people and then I found out I was the test subject and I stole it and I ran away and then I ran into you."

"Where is the weapon now?" Marcus asked after taking a moment to compute the man's rambled confession.

"I destroyed it," he told them and Lorne's face clearly showed his battle to control his anger as he turned to the others.

"Looks like we're going to have to fight our way out," Lorne stated and there were several murmurs of acceptance. "John target their weapons systems and engines and everyone hold on tight."

Marcus brought the transmission back up and the face of Tobias once again appeared on the screen looking angry at having been cut off. "Rodney doesn't have your weapon anymore so if it's okay with you we'll just be on our way," Lorne informed him.

"Hand him over or we will take the ship by force and…" Lorne once again cut of the transmission whilst the man was mid sentence and attempted to fly the ship out of the circle they were trapped in. Weapons fire once again rained down on the ship as John returned the fire as best he could. The ship continued to shake violently with every impact and the continuous explosions indicated they were quickly losing.

"Missile incoming!" Teyla shouted and a few seconds later the ship lurched violently signalling it's impact. Ronon, Elizabeth, Carson and Rodney were thrown to the floor and John, Teyla and Marcus had to struggle to stay in their seats. Marcus finally found a gap in their enemies formation and manoeuvred the ship through it, getting clear before engaging the hyerdrive.

John turned around to find the others picking themselves up off the floor, all except Elizabeth who laid there motionless. He immediately got out of his seat and dropped to the floor next to her, she was lying on her side and so he turned her over. She was unconscious probably from hitting her head and a few moments later Carson was at his side.

"Help me get her to the infirmary," he instructed John who wordlessly picked up her slim form carrying her off the bridge. He gave Rodney a short angry look as he passed him following Carson to the infirmary. He laid her down on one of the beds and brushed her hair out her face as Carson checked her over.

"She's going to fine," Carson told him reassuringly "It's just a bump on the head, she should wake up within a few hours."

John nodded as the doctor left the room and he pulled a chair up next the bed. He'd got closer to her than anyone else in his life in just the couple of weeks that he had known her. He was pretty sure he was falling for her, hard and fast and it both excited and scared him. He looked at Elizabeth's face and resisted the urge to kill Rodney for being the source of this, he knew Ronon would take car of him anyway.

- - -

"You should have told us the truth!" Marcus shouted and Rodney shrank back slightly clearly intimidated by the two angry men in the room. He'd seen Ronon throw enough fireballs at John to know he didn't want to be on the large man's bad side.

"I didn't think it mattered," he defended weakly and shrank back even more when Ronon stepped forward angrily.

"You could have got us all killed," he yelled.

"I thought I was safe here, I didn't know they could find me," he muttered suddenly fearing for his life at the murderous look in Ronon's eyes.

"One of us had already ended up in the infirmary because of your lies, if anyone else ends up there over this I'll kill you myself," Ronon informed him.

"You can't kill me, I'm an elemental, the others won't let you," he rambled fearfully and Ronon glared down at him.

"You really think any of them could stop me?" he questioned rhetorically his voice low and dangerous. Carson walked back onto the bridge breaking the tension of the moment and saving Rodney from being yelled at and threatened anymore, at least for now.

"How's she doing?" Lorne asked.

"She's fine, it was just a bump, she'll wake up in a few hours," the young doctor informed them all and Rodney took the opportunity to make his escape but he didn't even make it out the door.

"Where'd you think you're going?" Lorne's voice questioned "You made this mess," he stated gesturing to the battle scarred bridge "And since you seem to be the technology genius you can start fixing the damage you've caused to my ship!"

Rodney resisted the impulse to complain, whine and mumble under his breath figuring it wouldn't go down well in the current situation and started inspecting the damage to see what he could fix.

- - -

Ronon walked into the relatively empty spare cargo hold to discover one of their latest passengers fighting with the air. He watched her for several minutes, she moved with a confidence and grace that he had never seen before. Apparently being trapped inside stasis chamber for a few years hadn't slowed her reflexes.

She had been aboard the ship for several days now and they had yet to see her use her powers. He, John and Elizabeth were constantly trying to kill each other with their powers, whether accidentally or on purpose and Rodney was still trying to figure his out. They had been told that Teyla was very powerful and that she had control so why didn't she ever show it.

He stepped forward making his presence known and she stopped turning to him, a slight blush creeping onto her cheeks as she realised he was there.

"You're good," he told her and she smiled, the blush increasing just a little.

"Thank you," she replied "How long were you standing there?"

"Long enough," he informed her before looking at her thoughtfully "Do you want a sparring partner? I promise you I'm more of a challenge than the air."

She laughed lightly and Ronon did not fail to notice it made her look even more beautiful "I would be most honoured to spar with you."

"I'll try not to beat you too quickly," he told her confidently and Teyla raised an amused eyebrow at him as if she knew something that he didn't. They both took up their positions opposite each other and Teyla made the first move sending her fist in his direction. Ronon grabbed it before it connected with his face and Teyla spun around wrenching her arm free of his grasp. She moved to hit him again but Ronon evaded it and grabbed her arm forcing her legs out from under her and dropping her to the ground.

"Very good," she complimented as he offered her his hand to help her up.

"Not many people can beat me and I'm much bigger than you , I have an advantage," he replied as she stood up and Teyla cocked her head questioningly.

"You believe so?" she asked and he nodded his head "Then perhaps you would care to try again?"

"If you insist," he feigned reluctance and they took up their positions. Teyla moved first again and Ronon was able to block her blow before she dropped down and swung her leg out at him. She knocked his own legs out from under him and he crashed onto the ground as Teyla stood back up smiling, obviously pleased with herself.

She offered Ronon her hand the same way he had before and he grudgingly accepted it as he stood up. "You could have done that the first time couldn't you?" he questioned.

"Yes," was Teyla's simple reply.

"Then why didn't you?" he asked her and Teyla's smile widened.

"I did not wish to wound your manly ego," she stated before she walked out of the room. Ronon could do nothing but stare after her and despite himself a small smile broke out on his face, she was good.

- - -

Elizabeth made her way to the bridge having slept off the remains of her headache caused by her fall. She had woken in the infirmary to find John sitting beside her holding her hand. He'd been staring at the wall with a thoughtful look on his face and she had debated whether to interrupt him. She had moved though and he had immediately let go of her hand which if she was honest she hadn't wanted him to do.

The rest of the ship were sound asleep in their rooms but having slept for several hours already she knew she wouldn't sleep again tonight. She was mildly surprised when she found John sitting in the pilots seat staring out of the front window at the stars passing by and the slightly coloured streaks surrounding the ship that came with being in hyperspace.

He turned around when he heard her come in and she smiled her greeting as she moved to sit on the chair at sensors. "Hey."

"Hey," he replied "How's your head?"

"Better," she told him unconsciously moving her hand up to her forehead. The pain killers Carson had given her coupled with a few hours sleep had completely removed the pain.

"Good," he said quietly and stared at her a moment and Elizabeth felt her whole body tingle under his gaze. Damn, there was no way he should have that affect on her just by looking at her. He finally averted his gaze back to the front window and a comfortable silence filled the room.

"So," Elizabeth began after several minutes "Did anyone try to kill Rodney for lying to us?"

"I think Ronon and Marcus gave him a good scare and Marcus made him fix all the damage the attack caused to the ship. I think we were all more mad at him for getting you injured than for the actual lying." John explained and Elizabeth sighed, she'd never really had people that cared about her that much before, of course she'd never been in any life threatening situations before. Still, her parents had never shown a huge amount of interest in her well being, as long as she did as she was told, turned up for their stupid parties and obeyed their rules they never paid her much attention. She'd known these people for a couple of weeks and she already felt closer to them than anyone else she'd ever known.

"Why aren't you asleep anyway?" she questioned after yet another silence.

"Couldn't make my mind shut off," he replied as he continued to stare out the window.

"Well, I'm going to get something to eat, you coming?" she asked and John nodded his head.

"Sure," he said as he stood up and followed her off the bridge and in the direction of the kitchen.

TBC


	10. Chapter 10

**Manah – **Thanks for the review. I'm glad you like my stories so much. DanJan are one of my fave pairings too but Sparky and Spanky are top of my list at the moment. I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Steph7085 – **I'm glad you liked the RononTeyla scene in the last chapter as well as the final scene, thanks for the review and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Fyd818 – **I'm glad you think Rodney is in character and that you liked the scene with Ronon and Marcus yelling at him. I'm love writing the Sparky scenes in this story so I'm happy to hear you like them. The Ronon and Teyla scene in the last chapter was my favourite to write in the last chapter so I'm glad you liked it. Thanks for the review and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

- - -

Chapter 10

He could make plants grow.

That had to be the most ridiculously stupid and useless power he could possibly have. Ronon could throw fire balls, John tossed round orbs of water, Elizabeth could send grown men flying through the air, no one knew exactly what Teyla could do but they knew she was damn powerful and he… he could make plants grow.

Rodney watched as the small plant in front of him increased in size before he decreased it again. He just had to end up with the crummy power, he couldn't have had any of the cool powers, no, he had to get this. Life was so unfair.

Why did it always have to be him? Why was it the only luck he seemed to have was bad luck? He'd been born on one of the worst planets in the galaxy and as a teenager happened to run into a man carrying some kind of weapon making him drop it which resulted in it breaking. It wasn't his fault the guy hadn't been watching where he was going but he'd been punished for it anyway.

It turned out the guy was working for one of the many gang bosses on Geldar and when the boss had found out what he'd done he'd tried to have him killed. Rodney had managed to plead for his life and make the gang boss believe he was more valuable alive than dead. He'd been forced to work for him for years and that was when he had developed the weapon that had led to the attack a few days ago.

Everyone was still mad at him for that, well the guys were anyway. Elizabeth and Teyla seemed to have forgiven him which was ironic considering Elizabeth was the only one hurt by his lies. Marcus had made him fix everything on the ship and then declared him to be the ship's engineer. Ronon scowled at him every time they were in the same room and John was just completely ignoring him which was probably the worst of them all, at least Marcus and Ronon acknowledged he was alive but as far as John seemed to be concerned Rodney didn't exist.

He knew he probably should have told them the truth but how was he supposed to know Tobias would find him way out here? Sure the man was one of the wealthiest gang bosses on Geldar and had pretty close to unlimited resources but that didn't mean anything. How did he even know which ship they were on and where they were, space was big, really big, it should have been almost impossible. Marcus had yelled at him for over an hour with Ronon standing there looking menacing. Apparently he could have blown the whole mission, exposed the location of the Secret Council's secondary base and got all the elementals killed therefore destroying the universe, all because he'd lied, how ridiculous did that seem.

Deciding he'd had enough of watching the plant in front of him get bigger and then smaller and then bigger and then smaller, he stood up and left his bedroom heading for the engine room. Marcus's punishment had turned out to be more of a reward for Rodney, he enjoyed messing around with the engine and the rest of the ships systems. He'd even managed to improve some of them in the last few days and he found the job to be a great outlet for his frustration.

He passed by the spare cargo bay and the noise inside caught his attention. He opened the door to see Ronon and Teyla fighting with each other again, sparring, Teyla had called it. He didn't see the point, they were friends why the hell would they want to beat each other up?

Teyla had tried to explain it to him, told him it was a way to improve your skills and learn new ones from your partner. He still didn't see the point, it seemed like a waste of time and energy but who was he to judge. He left them to it and continued on his way to the engine room. The hum of the engine was much louder in here and the small flashing lights and occasional beeps of the computer systems were a relaxing sound for him. Apparently they drove Marcus crazy but the man had no appreciation for technology anyway. As long as it worked Marcus was happy, if it didn't work he either hit it or sent someone else into fix it.

Rodney headed toward one of the consoles to access the ships sensors, he had a few idea's to make them better and now seemed like as good a time as any to implement them. He might not have an amazing power but his mind more than made up for it. If this was the best way he could help in this mission then that's exactly what he was going to do.

- - -

John threw an orb of water across the room and Elizabeth used her own powers to change its direction, a gust of wind hit it altering its trajectory and making it hit their target. He smiled at their success which they seemed to be having a lot of and turned to look at Elizabeth.

"We're getting good at this," he stated proudly and Elizabeth returned his smile.

"How about we try it with more than one orb?" she questioned and John stared at her curiously for a moment, she really was enjoying this.

"Alright," John agreed before making an orb appear in front of him. He then split the large orb into three smaller ones and sent them in different directions. This time though he decided to give both himself and Elizabeth an extra challenge. He attempted to control the movement of all three orbs, they flew around the room in various different patterns making it harder for Elizabeth to hit them and send them where she wanted them.

The first one impacted the target followed closely by the second and John doubled his efforts on the last orb. Elizabeth missed several times and it took her a few minutes to finally catch it blowing it into the target where it disappeared. She let out a deep breath and smiled triumphantly.

"Wanna take a break?" John asked noticing they were both slightly worn out and she nodded her head before moving over the counter and sitting herself on it. John walked over to join her and started routing through the cupboards to try and decided what he wanted to eat.

"Sandwich?" he asked Elizabeth.

"Sounds good," she replied before he set about the task of making them both something to eat. When he'd finished he handed her one of the perfectly made sandwiches, at least in his opinion and she thanked him before eating it. They ate in silence allowing their bodies to recharge from the drain of using their powers so much.

"Ready to go again?" he asked her once they had both finished and she nodded her head before jumping down from the surface she was sitting on. Unfortunately John had been taking a step toward her at the time and they found themselves only inches apart. She looked up at him apparently having realised their predicament and he saw something in her eyes he was sure was mirrored in his own. He leaned down and brushed his lips over hers the small amount of contact sending sparks of electricity through his body as he captured her lips with his own.

She didn't respond at first and John was about to pull away when she wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him closer. He placed one hand at the back of her neck and the other on the small of her back and pressed her against him. He got lost in her, in the taste of her, the feel of her lips beneath his. He'd be lying if he said he hadn't thought about this moment several times over the past few weeks but this was way better than anything he had imagined.

Abruptly she pulled away from him breaking the kiss and trying to take a step back only to realise she was trapped between him and the counter. "I can't do this," she whispered before sliding out from between them and running out of the room.

John sighed and ran a hand through his hair in frustration, why the hell did he have to kiss her?

- - -

Teyla kicked Ronon hitting him in the chest and sending him crashing to the floor with a thud. They had been sparring together for days and so far he had only managed to beat her once though he was definitely getting better. She was finding it harder to beat him now than the first time they had fought and with the speed he was learning it would not be long before they were on equal footing.

He got up from the floor with a low groan and after ensuring she had not caused any damage she walked over to one of the few crates lying around the room and picked up her bottle of water. He followed her reaching for his own bottle and sitting on the floor.

"Where did you learn to fight?" he asked her as she sat down next to him.

"My father taught me at first, he believed I should be able to defend myself. Then when the Secret Council came for me they took me to their base on Athos to train me. I was kind of their experiment, they wanted to see what would happen if they told us who we were and trained us to use our powers, apparently they didn't like the result," she stated bitterly before going back to the original question "Anyway, when they were teaching me to use my powers they also taught me to fight."

"Did you know, what they were planning to do to you?" he questioned.

"No," she replied "I knew they were becoming afraid of me and that they might do something but I didn't know they would put me to sleep for four years."

"How can you be so ready to work for them after what they did to you?"

"How can you work with John when the two of you have been fighting on opposite sides of a war for years? It is simple, we do not have a choice. The fate of the universe rests in our hands and if we choose to put our own selfish feelings above that then we are dooming everyone else. I am not happy about what they did, nor do I forgive those responsible but I cannot condemn millions of others to death for their mistakes. This journey is a part of who we are and nothing can change that," she explained and Ronon nodded his head slowly. She seemed wise beyond her years and he felt that now perhaps he understood her that little bit better.

"Now do you have more questions or are you still trying to put of my kicking your ass again?" she asked him suddenly and Ronon found himself slightly thrown by the bluntness of her words. In the week that he had known her he had never heard her say anything like that and it shocked him slightly.

Teyla noticed his stunned expression and laughed lightly "You did not think I was always sweet and innocent did you?"

Ronon didn't have a response and it made her laugh again, it was strange how he couldn't seem to take his eyes of her when she was smiling or laughing. He mentally shook himself and recovered enough of his senses to stand up and place his water bottle back on the crate.

"What are we waiting for?" he questioned and Teyla accepted the hand he offered her and allowed him to help her up from the floor before placing her bottle next to his and moving back to the centre of the room.

- - -

Marcus was sitting on the bridge when John came walking in looking rather dejected and he was about to call him on it when the man dropped down in the chair at the weapons console and looked at the floor. When he looked back up again a moment later his face was completely neutral and Marcus wondered briefly if the sad expression had been there at all.

"Anything going on up here?" John asked in a tone of voice that told Marcus the man needed something to do, something to distract him from whatever was bothering him.

"Not really, but you can always go and help Rodney in the engine room if you're bored," Marcus stated humorously and John stared at him incredulously for a moment before narrowing his eyes slightly.

"I think I'll stick with boredom, beside have you seen how possessive McKay's become of that engine room. I'll get my head bit off if I try to go in there and touch anything and I could quite happily do without him rambling on at me today," he replied and Marcus shrugged.

"Don't say I didn't offer," he said and John was about to respond when the sensor console beeped. John stood up and walked over to it sitting down in the seat as he studied the sensor readings the computer was displaying.

"There's a fleet of Genii ships heading this way," John announced in alarm making Marcus's head snap around in his direction. "According to this they'll be here in fifteen minutes, I didn't think the sensors could see that far whilst we're in hyperspace," John mused though that really shouldn't have been at the forefront of his mind at that moment.

"They couldn't, Rodney made some improvements," Marcus informed him as he moved to get a look at the sensor readings. "We're not going to be able to outrun them," he stated and stood up straight as he tried to figure out what they were going to do. There was no telling what the Genii would do if they got their hands on the elementals but there was nothing they could do.

"Well?" John questioned impatiently.

"I'm thinking!" Marcus exclaimed "Get the others," he instructed and John went to do as he was told as Marcus sat down and pulled up the ships files. He deleted everything that had anything to do with the SC including the logs of any transmissions and the information on the location of their secondary base where they'd picked up Teyla. He then pulled up the file on the weapons location memorising as much of the information as possible before he purged that from the system too.

John came back into the room with Carson and the other elementals in tow all of them looking curious and worried at the same time, no doubt John had told them what was going on. Marcus glanced back at the sensors, they only had a few minutes now and there was nothing they could do but wait. "They're going to catch us," he stated, "there's nothing we can do about it. We'll just have to find a way to escape. I've deleted all the information from the ships computer and I'm sure they'll try to get it out of us but we just have to hold out until we can get away."

Everyone in the room nodded their heads in agreement except for Rodney who just stood there looking scared. "When you say try to get it out of us do you mean torture, as in hurt and beat us until we tell them what they want?"

"More than likely," Marcus told him calmly.

"Okay, just checking," he replied his voice slightly higher than normal.

"None of you do anything to get yourselves killed, I'm guessing the Genii want you alive but if you provoke them they may just kill you anyway and if you die, everyone else in the universe dies too," he instructed the elementals.

"I suppose that makes us expendable," Carson replied lightly which slightly eased the tension in the room.

"Maybe, but I'd prefer it if we didn't die either," Marcus replied with a small smile before his face became serious again "We'll get out of this," he stated confidently and the beep of the console behind him told him the Genii fleet had arrived.

TBC


	11. Chapter 11

**Manah Sanders – **I'm glad you liked the last chapter and the sparky scene was my fave to write. Thanks for the review and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Fyd818 – **I feel kind of bad for Rodney too but I have plans for him so he'll just have to be upset about his powers lol. I'm glad you liked the sparring scene and Teyla's speech. The sparky scene was my fave to write in the last chapter so I'm glad you liked it. Thanks for the review and I hope this chapter makes up for the evil cliffie.

**Steph7085 – **Thanks for the review, I'm glad Rodney was in character and the Sparky kiss was my fave part of the last chapter. Thanks for the review and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Samira – **Yay another DanJan fan, seems there's not enough of us, as far as I'm concerned Heroes is one of those stargate episodes that don't exist lol. Thanks for the review, I'm glad you like this story, I've never read W.I.T.C.H but someone has mentioned it to me before, I really should check that out. As for Separate Ways, I am considering a sequel but I'm so into Atlantis AU's at the moment that it'll be a while if I do decide to write it. Anyway I hope you enjoy this chapter.

- - -

Chapter 11

One explosion after the other marked the success of the Genii weapons fire be hurled at their severely outnumbered ship. Ronon and Teyla were doing the best they could to seal the hull breaches on the bridge and Carson and Rodney were holding on to whatever they could in an effort to remain standing. For their parts Elizabeth, John and Marcus were barely managing to stay in their seats as the ship shook and lurched violently with every impact.

Marcus ducked the ship out of the path of a missile only to be hit by another one from the opposite side. On his left John was giving the Genii hell from the weapons console though not nearly as much as they were getting in return. Elizabeth was on his right at the sensors trying to warn them of any incoming missiles and reporting on the damage to both their ship and the Genii's.

The sound of an incoming transmission distracted Marcus from his piloting momentarily and he quickly pressed the button that would answer it. The man who appeared on their screen wore the uniform of a Genii Commander, his cold brown eyes studied them all for a moment before they fixed on Marcus.

"I am Commander Kolya of the Genii, we know you carry the elementals, if you surrender now we will not destroy you. However if you refuse we will not hesitate to destroy your ship whether the elementals are on board or not," he stated and Marcus got the feeling he wasn't bluffing. He turned to look at the others who one after the other nodded their heads, except Rodney who just stood there.

"Fine, we surrender," Marcus replied the words tasting vile, a taste made worse by the victorious smirk on Kolya's face.

"Prepare to dock with the command ship," he instructed before his face disappeared from the screen. Through the front window he could see the massive form of the Genii command ship looming over them. He quickly piloted the ship towards the docking hatch and engaged the clamps.

"Alright," he said quietly as he turned to face the others "Ready?"

Once again everyone but Rodney nodded their agreement and they all headed off the bridge to the kitchen where the Genii had already found their way into the ship. Several weapons pointed at them immediately and they quickly found themselves disarmed of their own weapons. The Genii guards grabbed hold of them, Marcus felt something cold press into the back of his neck but before he could turn around to investigate there was a sharp pain where the cold was.

The few cries of pain from the other members of his crew told him whatever had been done to him had been done to the them as well. Marcus instinctively reached a hand to the back of his neck and could feel the small cut there.

"You have all just had a chip implanted in your necks," a male voice told them before Kolya appeared from among the Genii soldiers. "My men and I all have triggering devices, if any of you try to escape or misbehave in anyway we simply have to press the button and you will receive a jolt of pain that will leave you unable to even stand. In addition any large use of energy by your bodies will trigger the devices, so if any of the elementals attempt to use their powers they will receive a jolt."

Kolya pulled out a small, black device that had several buttons on it and he pointed it at Teyla. Selecting one of the buttons he pressed it and a cry of pain left Teyla's mouth as she collapsed to the floor trying to fight of the pain that was attacking her from the inside. Marcus, Ronon and John tried to take a step towards her only to be held back buy the men behind.

"Stop it," Elizabeth shouted her voice clearly distressed and desperate. "Leave her alone."

Kolya lowered the device and for a moment the only sound that could be heard was Teyla's ragged breathing before she was pulled up from the floor. Ronon and John were staring at Kolya with what could only be described as murderous expression. Elizabeth, Rodney and Carson all looked distraught and Marcus did his best not to look affected.

"Now that the demonstration is taken care of, how about we show you to your new accommodation?" Kolya questioned as they were all led off the vessel and into the corridors of the command ship. It was only a few minutes before Kolya gestured to some of his men who then split off from the main group taking Elizabeth and Teyla with them.

"Hey!" John shouted gaining the attention of the rest of the guys who hadn't seen the men take the girls in a different direction.

"You'll be kept separate," Kolya told them as John fought against the people holding him. He could see Elizabeth and Teyla struggling against their own captors as they were dragged in the opposite direction. Ronon and Marcus tried to protest but there was nothing any of them could do, in the end all John got for his efforts was a jolt from the device in his neck. He went limp in the hands of the men holding him for only a moment before he forced his legs to respond and he stood on his own, once again being dragged through the ship.

Finally arriving at their location all five men were throw into the one large cell in the room and left alone. They needed to find a way out, unfortunately with the girls being held in a separate part of the ship it was going to be a lot more difficult. The Genii probably knew that though and John prayed that that was the only reason they'd been separated from the men.

"So who wants to take a vote on how officially screwed we are?" Rodney asked sarcastically his nerves getting the better of him. John sat down on one of the few racks and leant his head on the wall behind him. Ronon sat down next to him clearly as worried as he was, John wasn't blind, he'd seen how close Ronon and Teyla had become in the short space of time they'd known each other.

"They'll be okay," Ronon stated confidently and John could only nod wishing he could convince himself that were true. As selfish as it seemed his thoughts were mostly on Elizabeth, he'd never forgive himself if something happened to her. He'd been the one to convince her to come along on this crazy mission and if he hadn't she'd still be safe in her home on earth. Instead she was being held prisoner by the ruthless scum that were the Genii and he didn't even know what they wanted from them. He needed her to be okay, somewhere between meeting her on earth and kissing her he'd fallen for her and he'd be damned if he was going to lose her before he got to tell her that.

- - -

Teyla continued to struggle against the Genii soldiers all the way to the cell they had chosen to lock her and Elizabeth in. She'd been jolted twice on the way there, Elizabeth had been jolted the first time as well and it had only infuriated Teyla more. They pushed Elizabeth into the cell first and Teyla watched as she stumbled before regaining her balance, Teyla was tossed in next almost going straight into Elizabeth but she managed to stop herself first. She turned around and pinned the men with an angry glare as they locked the door and left the girls alone.

"Why do you think they separated us?" Elizabeth questioned after a few moment as she went to sit down.

"Probably to make it more difficult to escape," she replied hoping that really was the only reason.

Silence filled the room as Elizabeth wrapped her arms tightly around herself, the room was cold, probably left that way on purpose and she hadn't had chance to grab her jacket before she was dragged here. Despite her efforts against it she started shivering as she continued to try and force her body to remain still.

"Are you okay?" Teyla asked noticing her shaking.

"Just cold, earth was a relatively warm planet and the heating system on board the Aurora has spoilt me, I guess I'm just not used to space yet," Elizabeth stated and Teyla nodded her head. She had to admit she was cold too and she was used to space and Athos had never been particularly warm. She wished now that she'd managed to bring her own jacket even if it was just so she could have given it to Elizabeth.

"It should not be this cold the Genii must have done it on purpose but I do not understand what they hope to achieve by freezing us," she told her and Elizabeth smiled slightly.

"Maybe they think if they freeze us both to death then we'll behave ourselves."

"If Ronon were here we could have him make us a little fire," Teyla said with more affection in her voice than she'd intended to reveal. Elizabeth smiled again apparently having heard it but she didn't mention it for which Teyla was grateful, she wasn't sure she was ready to examine whatever was building up between her and Ronon.

"He'd probably just set on John on fire anyway, maybe Rodney too," Elizabeth stated humorously knowing as well as Teyla that with the chips in their necks Ronon couldn't have used his powers.

"At least they'd be warm and they'd provide us with some heat whilst they were running around trying to put themselves out though in John's case I think that would be easier," Teyla replied feeling some of the stress of the situation vanish at the light conversation.

Kolya chose that moment to walk into the room staying behind the bars of their cell which Teyla thought was probably a wise decision on his part. She'd probably seriously injure him if he came inside, chip or no chip.

"I want the location of the weapon," he stated simply.

"What weapon?" Teyla asked deciding to play dumb though she knew exactly what he was talking about.

"Do not play games with me," he said as he took the device out of his pocket and Teyla resisted the urge to roll her eyes, that threat was getting old. When both women remained silent he jolted Teyla and she cried out in pain falling to her knees. "Tell me the location of the weapon."

"No," Teyla replied only to be jolted again when he stopped she looked up at him meeting his gaze. He understood what she was saying, he could inflict as much pain on her as he wanted, she wasn't going to talk. He smirked and turned to look at Elizabeth pointing the device at her and Teyla could do nothing as Elizabeth felt to the floor next to her with a cry of pain.

"Where's the weapon," he shouted angrily.

"We're not telling you anything," Elizabeth informed him through her ragged breathing with a determined hate filled look on her face. Kolya seemed to realise he was going to get nothing out of them yet and left the room. Teyla and Elizabeth both stood up and moved to sit on one of the racks.

How many times do you think he's going to do that before he moves onto other methods of torture?" Teyla questioned and Elizabeth shrugged her shoulders.

"I don't know, but I doubt it will be long," she responded as they both allowed their bodies to recover from their first interrogation, they had a feeling it was going to be the first of many.

- - -

All five men looked up as Kolya entered the cell looking rather infuriated about something, a look he quickly concealed. He walked toward the bars but stayed a few steps back out of arms reach of any of them.

"What do you want?" Marcus asked before Kolya could start asking any questions of his own.

"I want the location of the weapon," he told them and Marcus regarded him warily for a moment.

"Why the hell would you want that, the only thing it's good for is destroying the universe and you along with it?" he questioned and Kolya smiled maliciously at them.

"I want to learn to control it, then not only will have control of the most powerful weapon in the universe but the elementals as well. No one will be able to stand in my way, not the Republic, not the Secret Council, the Genii will take power," Kolya explained and Marcus felt his stomach twist, all this had been so the Genii could take over the galaxy.

"We won't let you get the weapon," Marcus informed him and Kolya pulled out the triggering device. Marcus only had a second to brace himself before the pain shot through his body and forced him to his knees. He heard Ronon make a move toward the bars when Kolya stupidly took a step forward but the large man joined him on the floor a moment later.

"The weapon?" Kolya questioned before jolting John, then Rodney and finally Carson. When it became apparent that none of them were going to talk, not for themselves and not even for each other Kolya stopped. He walked toward the door and opened it signalling for his men to come inside. They unlocked the cell and grabbed John and Rodney pulling them out the door before the others could do anything to stop them.

"The women were not particularly forthcoming either," he stated as John and Rodney were forced to their knees outside the cell and the others were once again locked in. They all snapped their heads to look at him, anger bubbling inside them at the thought that he had even laid a hand on the girls. Kolya gave them a knowing smirk and Marcus got the feeling he'd made that statement for more than one reason, it was like he had wanted to see their reactions.

"Now," Kolya began turning to John and Rodney "Where's the weapon?"

He got no response from anyone in the room and moment later the boots of one of Kolya's men collided with John ribcage sending him to the floor. Rodney followed him a moment later and both men received several kicks to the stomach before Kolya asked the question again. John merely glared at him refusing to talk but Rodney seemed to be struggling a little more to hold back. After a few more minutes they were returned to the cell and Kolya and his men left once again.

Ronon and Marcus helped them to sit up against the wall whilst Carson did what he could to assess their injuries. "I don't think there's any serious damage, you'll probably both have a few bruises and be sore for a couple of days but other than that you'll be fine."

"At least until they come back for round two," Rodney finished and despite the sarcastic tone in his voice they all knew he was right. None of them wanted to think about what might have been done to the girls.

TBC


	12. Chapter 12

**WARNING – The first scene in this chapter has attempted rape in it, don't worry it's really minor and nothing actually happens but I figured it was only fair to warn people.**

**Fyd818 – **I'm glad you liked the last chapter and I feel kind of mean putting those chips in everyone. I'm glad you think I write Kolya well, he's my favourite bad guy lol. Thanks for the review and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Steph7085 – **I love to hate Kolya too lol, he's my fave bad guy. Thanks for the review and I hope you like this chapter.

**Samira – **I'll definitely check out W.I.T.C.H, it sounds interesting. I'm glad you liked the last chapter and I hope you enjoy this one too, thanks for the review.

**Manah Sanders – **Thanks for the review, I'm glad you liked the last chapter and I hope you enjoy this one too.

- - -

Chapter 12

After spending a long and uncomfortable night in their cell Teyla and Elizabeth had been denied breakfast, not that either of them could have eaten under the circumstances but it would have been nice to have the choice. They had spent the last few hours discussing their options of which there were very few. They were locked in a cell so the possibilities weren't exactly endless.

Kolya had arrived for another interrogation that morning and for some reason had stuck to using the chip in their necks as persuasion. He'd stuck at it a little longer than last time but still hadn't got any information out of them. The door to the cell opened and at first Teyla thought it was Kolya back for another round of his useless interrogation tactics.

It wasn't Kolya that had walked into the room though, it was several of his men. They walked in and closed the door behind them with looks on their faces that Teyla knew could only mean one thing. They approached the cell door their weapons trained on both girls. Two men stayed just outside the cell to keep their weapons on the girls, the rest walked in and made quick work of grabbing both of them.

Elizabeth was quickly pushed up against the nearest wall and held in place by a man on either side of her whilst a third brushed his lips over the skin of her neck. She was trying to struggle free and pull away but she was pinned to the wall. Teyla was being dragged toward the bed kicking and struggling all the way. There was no way in hell she was going to let this happen to either her or Elizabeth.

Knowing the pain it was going to cause her she focused her thoughts on the men around her. Her body started to glow with a white light that caused the men to freeze in their movements. The light got brighter until it suddenly moved out from her body in a shockwave that took out all three of the men that were holding her. She was carefully to keep it localised to the small area around her so that she wouldn't hit Elizabeth. She felt the pain of the chip in her neck rip through her body worse than all the times the trigger had been pressed but she forced herself to fight through it. Her anger and fear for Elizabeth was the only thing keeping her standing. Once her attackers were dead at her feat she turned to look at those who were still holding Elizabeth pinned to the wall though now they had ceased their attack and were staring at her.

She threw her arms out at the man who had been repulsive enough to think his lips should be allowed anywhere near Elizabeth's body. A white bolt of energy fired from her hand impacting his back causing him to cry out in pain before he hit the floor. The two remaining men let go of Elizabeth who slumped to the floor, they ran out of the cell pulling the door shut behind them to engage the automatic lock. The two men outside the cell had been too shocked to do anything and all four of them fled the room.

Teyla finally dropped to her knees, now that the immediate threat was over her body was succumbing to the pain. As her energy levels returned to normal the pain faded until it was finally gone and Teyla looked over to Elizabeth who was breathing heavily as she stared at the man lying dead in front of her. Teyla forced herself to her feat and toward her friend. She grabbed the dead man by his shirt and dragged him over to the other three so that he was away from Elizabeth before she went and sat down next to her.

She tentatively reached for Elizabeth's arm stopping when the woman jumped at the contact. Once Elizabeth relaxed enough she took hold of her arm and Elizabeth let out a deep breath as her senses returned to her.

"So that's your power," Elizabeth asked.

"That's it," she replied with a slow nod of her head.

"Everyone's been wondering," Elizabeth stated and Teyla shrugged, she'd known they were all curious about her powers but she hadn't felt any needed to show them. It was a huge drain on her body and she preferred not to use them unless she had to. "How did you do that with the device in your neck?"

"I have no idea," Teyla responded honestly.

"Well I don't think they'll be trying that again," Elizabeth said with a small smile which Teyla returned.

- - -

It had been several hours since Teyla had gone light show on the Genii soldiers and both women had been waiting for whatever punishment would be coming their way. Kolya walked into the room his face completely calm as he approached the cell with several guards.

"Well done, I have to say I didn't expect you to be able to get past the pain the chip caused. No matter, I've learnt my lesson, we will simply have to increase the chips setting to a higher one. We weren't entirely sure your bodies could handle it, we still aren't but you've left us with no choice," he informed them as his men opened the cell and grabbed hold of them to hold them in place.

"Let go of me," Teyla demanded as two men took hold of her.

They were forced to their knees as two men in white coats entered the cell with gun shaped devices in hand. They both tried to struggle but it was no use. Elizabeth watched one of the men step behind Teyla as the other went behind her.

"What are you doing?" she questioned barely keeping the fear out of her voice. There was no way she was going to let these people know just how frightened she was.

She felt the cold against her neck like she had when they'd put the devices in. This time though instead of the sharp sudden pain, it was a slow gradual pain as she felt a metal needle penetrate her skin where the chip had been implanted. She bit her lip against the pain and could see Teyla struggling similarly. She could here various beeps and the device at Teyla neck was flashing various colours.

After several minutes she felt the needle recede from her neck and dropped forward onto her hands when it was out of her skin. The men all exited the cell and the room before Kolya smiled maliciously at them.

"Try to use your powers again and the pain will more than likely kill you," he stated before he left the room. Elizabeth put both hands to the back of her neck feeling the puncture mark that had been left there by whatever had just been used on them.

"Well we were waiting for our punishment," Elizabeth stated "Guess that was it."

- - -

Rodney was still rubbing at the new puncture mark on his neck whilst the others were all over it already. Kolya and his men had come into the cell that morning and two by two they'd all had something stuck in their neck. Kolya had told them that the chips in their neck needed to be adjusted to a higher setting. He'd given them no explanation as to why but he'd taken great enjoyment in telling them he didn't know if their bodies could survive a jolt from the device now.

Carson, Marcus and Ronon were all sleeping, John was tossing and turning on the ridiculously uncomfortable excuse for a bed and Rodney was laid there staring at the ceiling, still rubbing his neck.

"Your head's not going to drop off McKay," he stated receiving a glare in response.

"Well I'm sorry I don't feel as comfortable as the rest of you when I've just been stabbed," Rodney hissed and John rolled his eyes at the exaggeration.

"They injected a needle into your neck Rodney, they didn't stab you," he told him incredulously and Rodney chose not to respond. John turned onto his side finally finding a relatively comfortable position and closed his eyes.

"Why do you think they needed to increase the setting on these things?" Rodney asked suddenly making John open his eyes again. "I mean there has to be a reason, they want us alive so there has to be a reason why they would turn it up to a setting that could possibly kill us."

"Something must have happened, maybe the girls did something," John replied thoughtfully a small smile gracing his lips at the thought. John moved slightly wincing at the pain in his ribs from his beating yesterday. The pain was better now and Carson was right it would probably be gone before long.

"We're getting out of here soon right?" Rodney questioned.

"Yes Rodney, we're getting out of here soon," John told him patiently, he knew he was just scared and he'd learnt very quickly that when Rodney was scared he talked, a lot. Thankfully he didn't talk to the Genii about what they wanted to know, he just talked. "Go to sleep."

"Both of you shut up and go to sleep or I'm gonna _knock _you both into unconsciousness," Ronon muttered from the rack he was sleeping on and silence filled the room. They both knew Ronon would make good on his threat if they woke him up again. A light snoring filled the room after a few minutes which told him Rodney had finally fallen asleep and John forced himself to relax as he allowed sleep to overtake him.

- - -

After yet another restless night in the cell Elizabeth had woken feeling only slightly less tired. They'd at least been brought food that morning and both she and Teyla had forced themselves to eat it knowing that when their chance came to escape and they were both determined to believe they would escape eventually, they would need all the strength and energy they could get.

It was beginning to frustrate her that given the entire situation the one thing at the forefront of her mind was John, John and that damned kiss. They hadn't talked about, they hadn't really had the chance especially since she'd fled the room. She didn't even know him, she'd only met him a few weeks ago but she couldn't get him out of her mind. He'd kissed her, did that mean he felt something for her or did it mean nothing at all to him? And she'd kissed him back, did that mean she felt something too? She shook her head to once again force him to the back of her mind knowing he wouldn't stay there long.

After the food had been brought in they'd been left alone all day, no visiting guards, no interrogation sessions, nothing. The guards hadn't even looked in on them to make sure they were behaving themselves. They were beginning to think they'd been forgotten about when the door to the room opened.

Elizabeth and Teyla looked up as Kolya entered their room but instead of stopping outside the bars he ordered his men to open the cell door. Fearing another round with the gun shaped things they'd had stuck in their necks yesterday both women tried to back away. It was futile effort though and they were both grabbed and to their surprise dragged out of the cell.

They both tried to fight them off as they were pulled unceremoniously out of the cell and toward the corridor. They had a feeling that they really wouldn't want to go wherever it was they were being taken.

They were stopped in front of Kolya who was wearing the malicious smile that seemed to be a permanent fixture on his face. Elizabeth resisted the urge to send him flying into the will just so she could wipe that look from his face.

"It seems that torturing you is not going to get me the information I want. Torturing the men has proved to be a useless waste of time as well so this morning we're going to change the method of torture slightly," he explained and Elizabeth and Teyla exchanged a glance.

"Bring them," Kolya instructed his men before he turned to leave the room and a moment later both women were pulled pout into the corridor. They could see Kolya slightly up ahead. They both continued to fight and try to struggle free, part of them knew it would do them no good but part of them also wanted to make things as difficult for their captors as possible.

They had no idea where they were being dragged to but after a few minutes they recognised part of the ship as something they had passed when they'd first been brought on board. Elizabeth tried to pull herself free from the men's grasp and succeeded in stopping them for only a second before one of them wrenched her forward. She was fairly sure he had almost pulled her arm out of her shoulder, she moved it slightly glad to find it was still firmly attached to the rest of her body.

She risked a look behind her to where Teyla was giving her own captors a hell of a time. She was at least seven or eight meters behind her and considering she'd been right behind her when they'd left their cell that was an achievement. She almost wanted to laugh at the infuriated look on the faces of the two men dragging her as she continued to fight against them. She was definitely the type of person who wouldn't go quietly. She winced slightly as Teyla got her arm free and elbowed one of the men in the face before she was subdued once again. She knew they were probably going to be punished for that later but she had to admit she was enjoying the sight of the blood trickling down from the man's nose as he left and someone else took his place.

Being violently pulled forward again forced her to concentrate on her own situation. She couldn't see Kolya in front of them any more as they approached a doorway and the men dragging her slowed down slightly to allow those with Teyla to catch up. She took a deep breath to steady herself as she realised they had arrived at their destination.

TBC


	13. Chapter 13

**Fyd818 – **Glad you like Teyla's power and the whole first scene from the last chapter. I couldn't resist writing Ronon's line and I just figured Rodney would be the kind og guy to keep fussing over the needle mark in his neck. Thanks for the review and i hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Steph7085 – **Thanks for the review, I'm glad I kept you on the edge of your seat in the first scene. I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**AthosionWarrior – **I'm glad you like the story and yes you can work on more than one story at a time, I currently have three stories going at once. Thanks for the review and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

- - -

Chapter 13

John's head shot up as Kolya entered the room leaving the door open behind him. He stared at them for a moment with a cold expression that made John's blood run cold. "We are going to be trying an alternative method of torturing today," Kolya stated and turned to look at the door. Everyone in the cell followed his eyes in time to see Elizabeth and Teyla being dragged into the room as they both struggled to get free of the men holding them.

John was sure that his heart had stopped as Marcus and Ronon joined him at the bars of their cell. Rodney and Carson were only a step behind them and they all watched as the women were forced to their knees facing the guys. Kolya stood to the side as the men let go off them but kept their weapons trained on the girls.

"Now, anyone feel like telling me where the weapon is?" Kolya questioned and silence filled the room. "No? Well then, this is the first time the trigger has been pressed since the setting was increased, let's find out if you're bodies can survive it."

He pointed the device at both girls and pressed the button, they immediately doubled over in pain. They cried out, the sound tearing through each of the men as they could do nothing but stand back and watch. John gripped the bars in front of him, hating them from preventing him from getting to Elizabeth and Teyla. He could see Elizabeth fists on the floor curl tightly as she tried to make it through the pain Kolya was inflicting on her.

"Stop!" he shouted but Kolya kept the button held down and John could hear the others shouting but his focus was on the girls, mostly Elizabeth he was ashamed to mentally admit. Kolya finally released the button and both women starting breathing heavily as they tried to recover from what had been done to them.

Teyla looked like she was about to try and get up only to be kicked in the ribs by one of the guards. She collapsed onto the floor but quickly rolled back onto her front and used her hands to lift herself slightly. The guard watched her ready to kick her again if she tried to get up any further.

"Want to talk yet?" Kolya asked "I'm fairly sure that another jolt like that will kill them."

John swallowed back his answer knowing he couldn't tell Kolya what he wanted to know, not even to spare Elizabeth and Teyla anymore pain and he knew they wouldn't want him too. Kolya slowly lifted the device again and pointed it at them; he glanced at them all once last time before pressing the buttons. The women cried out in pain again, this time more than before as their bodies began to give up.

Elizabeth's it seemed was caving faster, her hands could no longer support the wait she was putting one them and they collapsed beneath her. She turned her body slightly so that it was her shoulder that hit the cold metal deck plating and not her face which John could see clearly now that she wasn't facing the ground. He could see the lines of pain in her face and coupled with the cries of pain leaving her mouth it almost made him blurt out the weapon's location.

Teyla's arms gave out next and they could all see that they were dieing, if they didn't do something now both women were going to die.

"Stop it!" Marcus yelled desperately unable to take anymore "Stop it, I'll tell you!"

Kolya stopped immediately and gestured for the guards to pick the girls up from the floor. They were both still conscious but the pain was still clear on their faces and John knew if the bars weren't keeping him from Kolya he'd kill the man.

"The weapon is on Danaris," he stated solemnly and everyone tried not to react to the words.

"Take the women back to their cell," Kolya ordered and John finally caught Elizabeth's gaze, he held it for a moment trying to pour everything he felt into that one look and he could read it all reflected back from her. She was pulled out of the room behind Teyla neither woman in a condition to offer any kind of resistance; they weren't even walking on their own.

The room was finally emptied of everyone except the occupants of the cell and John rested his head against the metal bars. He felt completely useless to do anything, he'd got her into this mess and now he couldn't help her.

"You gave them a fake location," Rodney whispered receiving glares from Marcus and Carson.

"Way to go Rodney, let's hope there are no security camera's in here," Marcus responded in annoyance, "and yes… I gave a fake location. I couldn't tell them the real one and…" he paused and sighed "I couldn't let him continue, they would have died."

"You do realise as soon as they get to Denaris and realise you were lying they'll either interrogate us again or kill us," Rodney replied sarcastically.

"I know but Denaris is at least a few weeks away so I've bought us some time," Marcus answered and John finally turned around to face the rest of the cell. Ronon was sat silently in the corner looking almost as distraught as John felt. Carson was sitting on one of the racks quietly and Marcus and Rodney were stood in the middle of the cell.

"So, we need a plan," he stated feeling a sudden resolve to get them out of there and fast. Not that he hadn't been resolved to escape before but now he was absolutely determined, he wasn't going to let either Elizabeth or Teyla go through that again.

- - -

Elizabeth was dropped onto the rack that had become her bed before the guards left. She didn't have the strength to sit up so she merely pulled her legs up onto the bed and rolled onto her side allowing her body to curl in on itself. The action took more of her energy than she had to give and it caused more pain as her muscles protested to every movement she made, even the rise and fall of her chest as she breathed caused her more pain.

She looked across the cell at where Teyla was lying on her own bed, she had yet to move from the position the guards had dropped her in. She opened her mouth to call out to her but no sounds came out. She swallowed and took a deep breath before trying again.

"Teyla," she said barely above a whisper and her voice sounded weak and strained even to her own ears. Teyla moved slightly to look at Elizabeth wincing as she made herself a little more comfortable.

"I'm okay," Teyla lied as they both tried to calm their breathing. Elizabeth closed her eyes, she was tired, her body was tired and screaming for sleep. "We have got to find a way out of here," Teyla stated and Elizabeth started to nod only to realise her mistake.

"No arguments here," she said instead "Got any ideas?"

"Yeah," Teyla replied a trace of a smile gracing her lips "I thought I'd kick all their assess."

Elizabeth smiled as well "I don't think either of us is going to be kicking anybodies assess just yet, but when you're ready I'll lend you hand."

"Sounds like a good plan," Teyla told her.

"Well I can see a few substantial flaws in it but otherwise I think it's a great plan," Elizabeth replied her smile growing slightly and the stress and tension leaving her as they continued to talk.

"Yep," Teyla said "We'll escape our cell, kick the guards assess, steal their weapons, shoot Kolya, bust out the men and escape on the aurora," Teyla summed up making them both smile at how ridiculous the plan seemed. Neither of them laughed they refused to allow their bodies to laugh knowing how much pain that would cause.

"I'm so tired," Elizabeth stated exhaustion beginning to win out.

"Me too," Teyla said quietly and they both lapsed into silence, Elizabeth felt her eye lids beginning to close and she stopped fighting the sleep that was trying to take over.

- - -

The guards walked into the room with a few other Genii Officers that were carrying their trays of food. John, Ronon and Marcus shared a look all of them realising this was the best chance they were going to get. The cell door was unlocked and the trays set down on the floor. The officer turned to walk out and that's when the three men charged. They ran at the door pushing the officers through it and into the guards who were too stunned to react quickly enough.

Ronon hit one of them so hard it knocked them before another one was able to get hold of the trigger and jolt him. John took out two of the guards before he joined Ronon and the floor and Marcus was there a moment later. Rodney stepped out of the cell and hit the man holding a trigger to Ronon over the head with a tray successfully rendering him unconscious. Now free from his short experience with the higher setting of the chip Ronon stood up taking out two of the guards as they fumbled for their own triggers.

John and Marcus joined him as soon as the triggers were no longer being held to them. Between them they knocked out the final guard and all but one of the five unarmed officers that had carried their trays.

Marcus and Ronon set to work on gathering up the guard's weapons and handing them to Rodney and Carson despite his protest. John turned on the only remaining officer "Where are the girls?" he asked but the officer didn't respond. John grabbed the front of his shirt and gave the officer a murderous look.

"Where is Kolya keeping the girls?" he asked again and the man tried to shrink back at the anger in his voice.

"In the other cells," the officer replied fearfully and John dragged him to his feat.

"You're going to show us where," John informed him and the man looked like he was about to protest when John glared at him and the man chose to nod instead. John accepted the weapon Ronon tried to hand to him as Marcus shoved the officer through door. They were relieved when the corridor turned out to be empty and the few times someone had come their way they were able to do duck into a room and avoid being seen.

"They're in there," the officer said pointing to a door and John moved a head of him opening the door. He saw Elizabeth and Teyla sitting next to each other on one of the beds. They both looked exhausted and considering the treatment they got yesterday he couldn't blame them.

They turned to look at him when they heard the door open, surprise and confusion evident on their faces. Ronon walked into the room and immediately stepped forward to blast the lock and open the cell door. The two women stood up and made their way out of the cell as Marcus knocked out the officer.

"What's going on?" Elizabeth asked.

"We're breaking out," Marcus informed them with a shrug as they moved to where Rodney and Carson were standing watch at the door. With the corridor empty they all left the room and headed back the way they had come until they found themselves following the vaguely familiar route to their ship, hoping it was still there.

The alarms began going off and they all stopped for a moment "I think it's safe to say they know we're out," John stated as they continued through the corridor only to run into several Genii soldiers. Both sides began firing quickly and they were all forced to use the bulkheads as cover, the guards out numbered them slightly but John, Ronon, Marcus and Rodney were able to take them all out. Unfortunately one of the soldiers managed to hit Rodney in the shoulder who started panting and gesturing to his injured arm over dramatically. Elizabeth had to lay a restraining hand on his arm to keep him from breaking cover and getting himself shot worse.

Once all the soldiers had been taken out and the group continued toward the Aurora, locating the docking hatch to their ship they were all relived to find it still there. A whimpering Rodney was forced to override the lock and open the door before they all filed onto the ship and headed directly for the bridge.

Marcus dropped into the pilot's seat and made quick work over powering up the engines and releasing the docking claps. He quickly steered the Aurora away from the command ship and they came under fire only a second before they entered hyperspace. Everyone waited in silence to find out if they were being followed but they knew it would take the Genii longer to mobilise even their smaller ships. When several minutes passed without the Genii showing up on sensors they all relaxed.

"I have to sleep," Elizabeth stated "In my nice, warm, comfortable bed."

- - -

Elizabeth had only just got into her room when there was a knock at the door and she shouted for whoever it was to come in. The door opened and John walked in slowly before closing the door behind him.

"Hey," she said realising that she hadn't had the chance to talk to him since the kiss, they hadn't even spoken properly in days.

"Hey," he replied "I just… about the other day, before we were captured and all that…" he said struggling to find the words he wanted to say. He'd never been good with feelings and she evoked more feelings in him than he knew how to deal with.

"I'm sorry I ran off," she told him quickly.

"No I'm sorry, I shouldn't have…" he trailed off and Elizabeth shook her head.

"I'm glad you did," she informed him before looking down at the floor. John took a step towards placing a hand underneath her chin and bringing her face up to look at him. The look in her eyes told him everything he needed to know as he trailed his fingers along the line of her jaw. He moved his hand to the back of her neck and leant down bringing his lips to hers.

It was just a brushing of lips at first as he asked for permission and when she responded he deepened the kiss. His hands moved slowly down her back until they reached the hem of the shirt she was wearing and slipped his hand underneath finding her skin. Her own hands found his shirt and lifted it above his head before dropping it to the floor.

"What happened?" she whispered as she trailed her fingers gently over the healing bruises that marked his chest.

"Kolya's method of persuasion," he informed her as he made quick work of removing her shirt. Her own bruises were revealed both the ones on her arms from where she'd been dragged around the ship and the one on her side from when she and Teyla had been attacked in their cell.

John traced his hand over the bruise on her side noticing her close her eyes in an effort to fight off whatever memory came with it. He chose not to ask her what had happened instead he kissed her again, a soul searing kiss that successfully pushed away the memory she was reliving.

He moved his lips down her neck and for a second the memory of the cell came into her mind. She ignored it, refused to let it ruin this moment and allowed John to replace the memory with one of his own. She tilted her head to give him better access but he didn't linger there long before he returned his attention to her lips. He tangled one hand in her hair and placed the other on the small of her back pressing her closer against him.

Her senses were completely filled with him and they obliterated any other thought she had, about the attack in the cell, the fact that she had only just met him, everything. She allowed herself to completely surrender to the moment and to him.

TBC


	14. Chapter 14

**Steph7085 –** Thanks for the review, I'm glad you liked the sparky scene in the last chapter. I felt really bad torturing the girls but I'm glad the scene turned out okay. I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Fyd818 – **I felt really cruel when I was writing the torture scene but good to know it turned out okay. I'm glad the escape had you cheering and that you enjoyed the sparky scene at the end. Thanks for the review and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Izzles – **Thanks for all the reviews, I'm glad you liked the sparky scenes and I wanted to kill Kolya too. I hope you enjoy this chapter.

- - -

Chapter 14

Their first few days back on the Aurora had been relatively uneventful which they all found to be a nice change. It had given everyone chance to recuperate from whatever had been done to them by the Genii. The girls had been very tight lipped about what had happened to them after they'd been separated from the guys, which only had them more worried.

Ronon was sitting on the bridge staring at the mixture of colours that was hyperspace. Their recent captivity seemed to have changed everything, John and Elizabeth had been inseparable since they got back to the Aurora, in fact Ronon couldn't think of a single time he'd seen the two of them apart. He was happy for both of them, despite the rocky start to his friendship with John and the fact that they still fought he now considered him a friend.

Rodney seemed particular pleased with himself after he had hit the guard over the head with a tray and Ronon had to admit, for the babbling, cowardly engineer it had been a brave move. Carson had been locked up in the infirmary trying to figure out how to remove the chips in their necks without killing them, they'd all been very pleased when they'd realised the triggers would only work at short range so as long as they didn't use their powers there'd be no jolts of pain.

The biggest change to Ronon was currently standing in the doorway watching him whilst he pretended not to notice she was there. She'd been stood there for several minutes already whilst he stared out of the window.

"Penny for your thoughts?" she questioned as she finally took a step into the room and took the seat by the weapons console. After several days sleep she was looking much better, the sleeveless top she was wearing revealed the elemental mark on her arm, different to all of the others because it was a combination of them all, a triangle and an upside down triangle on top of each other with a line through the middle. The top also revealed the fading bruises on her upper arms matching the one she no doubt had from when the guard had kicked her.

"I was just thinking about the last few days," he told her vaguely and she smiled slightly as she leaned back in the chair.

"It has been interesting if somewhat uneventful," she replied as she relaxed into a more comfortable position and allowed her gaze to drift to the window. The light shining on her face was fluctuating with the varying changes in the colours of hyperspace, it seemed to make her look even more beautiful and he found himself captivated by the image.

As if feeling his eyes on her she turned her head to look at him and their eyes locked in an intense gaze that had Ronon's heart beating faster than was normal. Sensing the dangerous territory his thoughts were heading in he mentally shook them from his mind and looked away. Teyla stood slowly as she continued to watch him "I will let you get back to your thinking," she said before turning and leaving the bridge.

- - -

Carson walked into the kitchen to find the rest of the group eating dinner, he'd heard them call for him several times but there was no way he could leave what he was doing at the time.

"I've got it," he stated knowing they would all know what he was referring to; all the same he elaborated anyway. "I think I've found a way to remove the implants without killing us."

"Think?" Rodney exclaimed "You _think_ you can do it without killing us?"

"Well I've never actually had to it before Rodney but I'm almost certain this will work," Carson explained shooting an annoyed glare at Rodney.

"What have you got?" Lorne asked wanting to hear more before he agreed to whatever plans Carson had in mind.

"Well initially I was concerned that because the implants are linked to the nervous system removing them could kill us, also after studying all of the test results I believe the devices may have a fail safe and would be triggered if they were tampered with," Carson started to explain trying to keep his explanation as simple as possible. "However I think that a small jolt of electricity at the right moment during the surgery will disrupt the device long enough for me to detach it. There will be pain involved but if you're unconscious I think this will work."

"Did anybody else notice how many times he said _think_ in that sentence?" Rodney questioned sarcastically.

"Shut up Rodney," Marcus said as he turned to look at Carson with a serious expression on his face "How sure are you about this?"

"Sure enough that I think it's worth a try," he replied just as seriously and Marcus nodded before standing up.

"Then I'll be your guinea pig," he stated and he saw John and Ronon open their mouths to protest. "This procedure is experimental at best," he said silencing them "If it doesn't work we can't risk losing an elemental."

"Should we maybe runs some more tests or get a second opinion or something?" Rodney asked apprehensively.

"We don't have the time," Marcus replied "We'll be arriving at the location of the weapon in just over a week and none of you will be able to fulfil the prophesy with these things in you. If Carson thinks this will work then that's good enough for me."

Rodney opened his mouth to offer further protest but decided against it. Satisfied he'd get no more protest from anyone Marcus turned back to the doctor and offered him a small smile. "My life is in your hands doctor."

"I can start right away if you want," Carson informed him and at Marcus's nod continued "Let's go then, the rest of you can watch from the observation window."

- - -

The Operating Room was adjacent to the main infirmary, it wasn't particularly large but it was good enough to do the job required of it. Marcus was currently unconscious and lying face down on the operating table with his head placed in a small hole to keep him comfortable. Carson was standing next to the table preparing to start the surgery whilst everyone else stood in the infirmary watching through the observation window.

Carson picked up the small metal scalpel and pressed it against the back of Marcus's neck. With a careful motion he made an incision big enough to give him access to the device. He removed the blood from his path and found the small metal chip that had caused them all so much pain. It couldn't have been more than a centimetre in diameter and two centimetres in length. There were small pieces of metal branching off from it like spiders legs and heading into his friend's spine. He got to work on severing the various connections and at first everything went well. The machines monitoring Marcus's vital remained steady as one by one the connections were cut.

A tiny red light on the device alerted Carson to the fact that the failsafe had been triggered and he pulled his scalpel away just in time for Marcus's body to jolt suddenly. It shook for a few more moments before the red light disappeared again and Carson continued his work. He was able to make it half way through the connections before the red light turned on again and Carson was forced to wait patiently as the device sent jolts of pain through his friend's unconscious body.

He finally made it through all the small connections and was left with only the one big one. He picked up the device that Rodney had given him to provide the jolt of electricity. He took a deep breath to keep himself calm and held it to the chip to provide the small spark of electricity. Marcus's body jolted at that moment – only this time it was because of the electricity and not the device – and Carson quickly severed the final connection without any fuss from the device. He picked up the tweezers and closed them around the chip removing it from Marcus's neck. He held it in the air for a moment examining the device that had caused so much pain before depositing it in the tray beside him.

He spared a moment to look over at the observation window where the elementals stood, all of them watching apprehensively. He gave them a small nod as confirmation that the surgery had gone well before moving to close the incision in Marcus's neck. The task was completed easily and Carson headed over to the door that led into the infirmary.

Everyone turned to look at him questioningly, his nod not having provided enough details for them. "The surgery went well; the device has been removed from his neck. We won't know for sure until he wakes up but there doesn't seem to have been any side effects form the surgery," he explained and they all visibly relaxed.

"So he's going to be fine?" John asked wanting to be sure.

"Aye, I think so," Carson told them with a hopeful smile "Ronon, can you help me move him into the infirmary?"

"Sure," Ronon replied and followed the doctor back into the operating theatre. Ronon tentatively picked Marcus up under strict guidance from Carson so that they didn't do him more harm than good by moving him this way. They placed him in one of the beds and settled in to wait for the anaesthetic to wear off.

Sometime later Marcus finally began to wake and everyone crowded around the bed. He opened his eyes and closed them again to allow them to adjust to the light before he tried again. "Oh the last thing I want to see when I wake up is your ugly mugs," he commented once he had found his voice and received several half serious glares from the men and completely unserious looks of hurt from Elizabeth and Teyla. "The women excluded of course," he added eliciting two smiles in the process.

"He doesn't seem to have suffered any side effects," Carson stated "He's definitely himself."

"Did it work?" Marcus asked pointedly ignoring his friends comment.

"Aye, the device was removed without too many problems, I'll just get something to eat and I'll be ready to start the next surgery," Carson told him and Lorne nodded wincing when it pulled at the stitches in his neck. "You might want to keep your head relatively still for a while," Carson added.

"Thanks doc," Marcus replied with a glare "So who wants to go next?"

"I will," Elizabeth stated "I want this thing out of me."

- - -

Ten hours after Marcus had woken up Elizabeth was also awake and happily chip free. The stitches in the back of her neck were annoying her but it was worth no longer having to worry about the device in her neck. She had gone into surgery only an hour after Marcus had woke up.

With a quick kiss from John she had held his hand as Carson sedated her and had woken a few of hours later with John once again holding her hand but no chip. Carson had slept for a few hours and again had something to eat before he'd gone back into surgery. Rodney was now unconscious (to be honest they all preferred him that way) and lying face down in the operating theatre as Carson worked on the device. It had taken far more time and anaesthetic than it really ought to have to put him under; the man had stubbornly clung to consciousness, fearfully telling them he didn't want the surgery.

John, Ronon and Teyla were going to have to wait until tomorrow but none of them had complained. She was more than relieved to have the damn thing out of her neck, she'd been silently fearing that the thing would somehow turn itself on and she would have to go through the pain she had experienced on the Genii ship, only this time there would be no triggering remote to switch it off. She felt far better knowing it was gone though she wouldn't be completely relaxed until everyone was free from the devices.

Unfortunately that wouldn't be anytime soon, John had asked Carson how intended to get his own chip out and the doctor had informed them that he would have to wait until they could get him to another doctor who could perform the surgery. He'd told them he'd rather wait until they could get him back to Athos because the only person he trusted to mess around with his spine and nervous system was Dr Frasier.

Ronon, Teyla and Marcus were currently stood by the observation window whilst John and Elizabeth sat on one of the beds nearby where they could still see the surgery. John had hold of Elizabeth's hand which he had refused to let go of since she'd woken up. She laid her head on his shoulder careful not to pull the stitches in the back of her neck and he finally released her hand instead putting his arm around her back and holding her tightly against his side.

Despite having been unconscious for the better part of the afternoon Elizabeth was tired. She refused to sleep until Rodney came out of surgery and woke up though, everyone had been around when she and Marcus had woke up it was only fair they were all there for Rodney too. She knew Marcus was tired too, they all were but for the same reason they all stayed there.

Carson finally came out of the Operating Room and Ronon carried the unconscious Rodney to one of the infirmary beds. They all made themselves more comfortable to wait for Rodney to wake up. Elizabeth felt her eyes drifting shut but she forced them to remain open even as her body begged her for sleep. John seemed to sense her struggle because he turned his face into her hair and planted a quick kiss on her head.

"Go to sleep, I'll wake you when he wakes up," he told her and with her head still on John's shoulder she finally allowed her eyes to close and sleep to overtake her.

It seemed like she had only just fallen asleep when John's voice urged her back to consciousness. She opened her eyes and lifted her head from John's shoulder; he allowed her a few moments to get her mind and body to work again before he jumped down from the bed and offered her his hand. She took it and the two of them joined the others around Rodney's bed just in time for their friend to open his eyes.

"Am I alive?" Rodney questioned making everyone both smile and roll their eyes.

"Yes Rodney, you're alive," Carson told him and Rodney seemed to visibly relax as though he had actually thought he might be dead.

"What time is it?" he asked.

"A little after 1AM," Marcus stated and Rodney's eyes widened.

"Why the hell are you all still awake?" he questioned and everyone resisted the urge to hit him.

"We wanted to be here when you woke up," Teyla informed him.

"Well I'm awake now so can I go to my room and go back to sleep?" Rodney asked directing his question at Carson.

"Aye, I don't see why not as long as you be careful with the stitches," Carson replied and Rodney slowly got out of the bed and headed out of the infirmary shouting 'goodnight' over his shoulder.

"I am so going to bed now," Marcus stated and quickly left the room followed by Carson, Ronon and Teyla. Elizabeth and John were a bit slower to follow as they headed towards John's room which was the closest. Elizabeth changed into one of John's shirts and climbed into the bed pulling the cover over herself. A moment later the bed behind her dipped s John made himself comfortable. Elizabeth turned around and scooted closer to him allowing his arms to go around her as she settled her head against his chest and allowed the steady beat of his heart to lull her to sleep.

TBC


	15. Chapter 15

**Fyd818 – **I'm glad you liked Rodney's reaction as he woke up from the surgery as well as the Sparky and Spanky scenes, hope you enjoy this chapter and thanks for the reviews.

**Steph7085 – **Thanks for the review, I'm glad you like the sparky in the story and I hope you enjoy this chapter as well.

- - -

Chapter 15

Teyla had been the first into surgery that morning and it had been completely successful though they had all noticed Ronon become slightly more agitated throughout. Teyla had been exactly the same whilst Ronon was in surgery but both of them had returned being their normal selves once it was over.

Carson had taken a nap after Ronon's surgery so that he'd be able to do the final surgery and John was now unconscious in the operating theatre whilst Carson made the small incision his neck. The first thing he noticed was that the device wasn't where it should be, it was in fact slightly to the left and resting at an unusual angle on John's spine. It was going to make the surgery more complicated with some of the connections being harder to reach.

He took a deep breath and cut the first connection happy that John's vitals remained normal. He cut the second connection and the third without any reaction from John, it was on the fourth connection that device switched on and John's body jolted for the first time and that was the first sign that something was wrong. The device stayed on far longer than it should have and John's body shook with the pain that it was being forced to endure. Eventually it stopped though and Carson took a deep breath to steady himself before continuing to cut the connections.

He got two thirds of the way through the connections before the device forced him to stop again with another prolonged jolt to John. He finally made it through all of the smaller connections and was faced with the final big one which entered his spine at an odd angle. He provided the necessary bolt of electricity and cut the connection watching as it receded from his spine.

On the other side of the observation window Elizabeth and the others all stood watching nervously. They all noticed that the device seemed to jolt John for longer than any of the others. They watched him cut the final connection and were about to relax when an alarm sounded on the heart monitor. The steady rhythm of John's heart was suddenly fast and erratic and they watched helplessly as John's body began seizing.

Elizabeth's breath caught in her throat and she would have ended up running in there if Marcus hadn't grabbed her arm to keep her in place. Carson was moving quickly around the operating theatre grabbing a needle and injecting something into John. After what seemed like an eternity the shaking subsided and John's heartbeat returned to normal.

Elizabeth relaxed slightly as Carson finally removed the chip from John's neck and began stitching him up. He spent considerably more time in the Operating Theatre before he and Marcus moved him to the bed in the infirmary. They made sure he was comfortable before allowing Elizabeth to sit next to him holding his hand tightly. Carson fussed around him a little while longer checking John's vitals before he finally stopped and turned to them all ready to explain what had happened.

"The device was positioned on his spine differently to all of you, I don't know why but it made removing the device more difficult and when the failsafe kicked in at the end I believe the device was on a much higher setting," he informed them.

"Is he gonna be alright?" Elizabeth asked in concern and Carson turned to her giving her a small smile.

"I don't think he should have suffered any side effects but there's now way to be sure until he wakes up I'm afraid," Carson replied.

"What kind of side effects are we talking about?" Teyla questioned from where she stood next to Ronon.

"Like I said, there's no way to be sure until he wakes up but it could be anything from brain damage to paralysis," he told them all solemnly and Elizabeth held onto John's hand tighter willing him to wake up and be okay.

- - -

Everyone waited around the infirmary for several hours but in the early hours of the morning John still hadn't woken up. Ronon and Teyla had both been exhausted from their own surgeries and Carson had finally ordered them both to get some rest. Rodney had left not long after them and Marcus and Carson had both already been half asleep but the time they had opted to go and get some sleep.

Elizabeth had refused to allow her body to make her got to bed until John was awake. It wasn't until a movement of his hand brought her back to consciousness that she even realised she'd fallen asleep. She opened her eyes and looked up to see John still lying on the bed with his eyes closed. For a moment she thought he was still unconscious but when his hand tightened around hers and his head moved slightly she knew he was waking up.

He opened his own eyes blinking several times, he looked at her in confusion and for a few seconds she was afraid that there had been side effects form the complications during surgery. He seemed to regain his senses though and then smiled slightly at her allaying her fears.

"Hey," he whispered and she found herself smiling back as she leant over him and smoothed his hair back with her left hand, her right was still holding his tightly.

"Hey," she replied just as quietly.

"What happened?" he asked feeling as though his head was going to explode.

"There were complications, the device in your neck was in the wrong place and when the failsafe kicked in it was on a higher setting, you scared us all," she explained.

"Sorry," he told her and she smiled once again and reluctantly let go of his hand.

"Carson told me to wake him as soon as you woke up, I'll be right back," she stated and walked over to the wall where the small comm. port was. She hit the button for Carson's bedroom and waited for him to answer.

"What is it?" a sleepy voice questioned.

"He's awake," was all Elizabeth said before Carson told her he was on his way and she returned to John's side. "They all tried to stay here and wait for you to wake up but you were out for a long time and they needed to sleep," she told John feeling bad that the others weren't here for him like he'd been there for all of them.

"It's fine," he replied just as Carson walked into the room.

"How are you feeling John?" he asked as he approached the bed.

"Like my head is about to explode," he retorted and Carson smiled slightly as he grabbed his wrist to time his pulse.

"I'll get you some pain killers for that, now how many fingers am I holding up?" Carson asked and John sighed but answered anyway.

"Three."

"What day is it?" Carson questioned.

"That depends on how long I've been unconscious," John replied with a small smile.

"Nine hours," Carson informed him pointedly not finding it funny.

"Then it's Friday, a ridiculously early hour on Friday I might add," John answered and Carson opened his mouth to ask another question but John decided to beat him to it. "And my name is John, you are Carson, this amazingly beautiful woman is Elizabeth. I'm the human incarnation of the water element on my way to stop a weapon of mass destruction destroying the universe."

Carson gave him a slightly disproving glance before telling him he could leave and then taking the suggestion himself. Elizabeth watched him go before turning back to John who had a pleased smile on his face. 

"He wasn't impressed," she informed him and he shrugged.

"He's just upset because I didn't call him beautiful," John joked making her smile as she helped him out of bed and they slowly made their way to his room.

- - -

Ronon and Teyla were sitting in the kitchen eating and pretending not to be staring at each other when the other wasn't looking. It had been two days since they'd had surgery to remove the chips in their necks. John seemed to have completely recovered from the complications that arose during his and everyone had apologised for not being there when he woke up. Ronon found himself genuinely sorry for not being there which was strange considering that when this had all started he'd hated John. The two men still bickered even now, but somewhere along the line he had started considering John a friend. A couple of weeks ago the notion would have seemed completely absurd.

Whatever was occurring between him and Teyla would have seemed absurd to, he was still refusing to actually name whatever it was. They had spent most of their time since the surgeries together which seemed to be some sort of unspoken agreement between them.

They heard Rodney muttering something under his breath and both of them turned in time to see him stumbling through the door. He tripped over himself and quickly stood back up with a panicked expression on his face as his hands went to the back of his neck.

"Did I pull the stitches out?" he questioned, more to himself than anyone else. Ronon rolled his eyes as the babbling engineer checked his stitches.

"You're fine McKay," he stated.

"That's easy for you to say you're not possible bleeding to death from the back of your neck," Rodney muttered in a fearful voice and Ronon resisted the urge to roll his eyes again.

"Yeah I'm sure it's that serious," he replied sarcastically. Teyla stood up and moved over to where Rodney was still trying to figure out if his stitches were in place. She gently pulled his hand away and checked the stitches herself.

"You're fine," she reassured him with a friendly smile putting his fears to rest before he grabbed the snack bar he had come for and left again. Teyla sat down earning a bemused, curious glance from Ronon. "It helps to just humour him, he just wanted to be sure his stitches were intact and it didn't hurt to check for him even if I knew they were fine."

"I don't know how you can be so patient with him," Ronon stated and Teyla simply smiled. Ronon studied her for several moments wondering if he'd ever understand her.

- - -

Elizabeth was sitting on John's bed reading her book whilst John was content to sit next to her absently throwing water orbs around the room. Occasionally Elizabeth would look at him disapprovingly at which point he would apologise and then start doing it again. She was wearing her own baggy light blue jeans and his dark blue top that was too big for her.

After his surgery gone wrong she had barely left his side but he wasn't complaining. He was more than happy to have Elizabeth sitting on his bed wearing his shirt as she read her book. Receiving a slightly more serious glance from Elizabeth had him once again muttering an apology though this time he actually stopped tossing water orbs around. Instead he leaned his head back on the wall behind him and allowed his mind to wonder.

Inevitably it wondered back to Kolya's ship and everything that had happened there. The torture he had subjected Elizabeth and Teyla to right in front of him. The image of Elizabeth lying on the floor in pain and clearly on the edge of death was one that would probably haunt him forever. He shook the image from his mind and tried to think of something else. He found himself thinking about the implants and wondering why Kolya had felt the need to increases the setting.

"Did you and Teyla do something?" he asked and Elizabeth turned her head toward him questioningly. "I mean on Kolya's ship, Kolya increased the setting on the devices I was just wondering if maybe one of you two had done something."

John almost regretted asking the question when he saw the look on her face, the one people got when reliving a bad memory. Neither Elizabeth or Teyla had ever really talked about what had happened to them after they got separated from the guys. They'd basically said Kolya had questioned them a couple of times and that was all any of them knew.

"Teyla used her powers," Elizabeth explained and John's eyes widened slightly.

"You've seen Teyla use her powers?" he questioned, none of them even knew what Teyla's powers were.

"Yeah, she's pretty powerful," Elizabeth replied and John found himself curious as to why Teyla would have used her powers especially knowing what the chip in her neck would do to her.

"Why?" he questioned hesitantly and Elizabeth looked down at the bed which only made him more worried. "Elizabeth?"

"A bunch of the guards came into our cell, they tried to force us," she told him without looking up from the bed. "Teyla stopped them the only way she could."

He was glad they'd already escaped the Genii because if he was still there he might have done something drastic which would probably have got him killed. Instead he pushed away his anger and took solace from the fact that they hadn't been successful, that Teyla had stopped them. He moved his arm around Elizabeth shoulder and pulled her tightly against his side and used his free hand to hold hers.

Elizabeth allowed her book to fall from her lap and took only a second to curse the fact that she had lost her page. She moved closer to John and rested her head on his chest as he leaned back against the wall. She had known the truth would come put sooner or later and she was glad John had reacted the way he did. She knew he was angry but he wasn't showing it, instead he was just offering her the comfort that she needed.

After a few minutes John let go of her hand and leaned them over slightly so that he could pick up her book from the bed beside her. He rested it in between them, half on his lap and half on hers. He knew she'd lost her page when she let it fall from her lap and it would annoy her to no end when she tried to read it again later.

"Now where were you in this thing?" he questioned and Elizabeth smiled.

"I have no idea, somewhere after page 173," she replied and he opened the book using his free hand to turn the pages.

"Well let's see if we can't find out where you were," he told her and she continued to rest her head on his chest as he searched for her page.

TBC


	16. Chapter 16

**Steph7085 – **Thanks for the review, I'm glad you liked the last chapter.

**Fyd818 – **I'm glad you liked the scene where John woke up and making people worried during his surgery was my goal so yay, mission accomplished lol. The final scene with John and Liz was my fave to write in the last chapter so I'm glad you enjoyed it. Thanks for the review and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

- - -

Chapter 16

Teyla was woken from her sleep when the ship suddenly lurched violently almost throwing her out of her bed. She felt the tell tale signs of the ship dropping out of hyperspace and sighed when she realised they were probably under attack again. She very quickly changed into more appropriate clothing, if she was about to be taken prisoner again there was no way she was being captured in her pyjamas.

She nearly ran into Ronon as she left her room but quickly took a step back to avoid the collision. As she was mid step the ship shook again and she lost her balance. Ronon was quick to reach out and grab her arm pulling her up and towards him as she steadied herself. She thanked him without meeting his eyes and turned toward the bridge. John was already in the pilots seat with Elizabeth sitting at the sensor console when they arrived and Ronon dropped into the only remaining chair to start firing the ship's weapons.

Marcus and Carson arrived a moment later and Rodney as usual was last. "What's happening?" Marcus asked moving to stand behind John gripping the back of his chair for support.

"Republic ship," John explained distractedly as he attempted to keep the Aurora out of the path of the republic's weapons fire.

"Just one ship?" Lorne questioned turning to Elizabeth who nodded her head.

"It's one of the big ones," John stated as he manoeuvred the ship out of the path of an incoming missile. Between John's flying and Ronon's shooting they were able to hold their own for longer then they should have but in the end they were no match for the Republic's larger ship. A few well placed hit's had the Aurora's engine shutting down and the ship came to a stop.

"Incoming transmission," Elizabeth announced pressing the button that would bring it up on screen. A young blonde woman appeared dressed in the usual Republic uniform, the badge on her collar indicating she was most likely the captain of the ship. Everyone heard Carson mutter what sounded suspiciously like a curse under his breath as he stepped back away from the screen.

"Lower your shields and prepare to be boarded," she stated in the usual republic greeting. They were dead in the water and there was nothing they could do but comply. They cut of the transmission and Marcus instructed John to lower the shields before turning to Carson.

"Was that who I think it was?" he questioned and Carson nodded his head slowly.

"Aye, my ex, Laura Cadman," Carson replied solemnly.

"You were dating her, you, a member of the secret council, were dating a republic officer?" Rodney questioned incredulously receiving glares from Marcus and Carson.

"Yes, I was seeing her until I 'died' a few years ago," Carson explained sighing "I am never gonna here the end of this."

The sound of footsteps approaching indicated the Republic was now on board and when Laura's voice filtered though to the bridge Carson backed away from the door as if trying to get out of sight. The woman herself then walked onto the bridge with several of her officers. She looked around the room her eyes settling on Marcus and she smirked and shook her head.

"Marcus Lorne," she stated "I always suspected you were part of the SC."

"Well, you got me," Marcus replied with a shrug before a smile appeared on his face "Oh but I bet you didn't know he was SC," he told her as he grabbed the shoulder of Carson's jacket and pulled him forward.

Laura's eyes went wide as Carson forced a smile "Hello love," he managed to say before shrinking back when he saw the anger in her eyes.

"Take them to the cells," she ordered before they were all disarmed and dragged off their ship.

- - -

Laura paced back and forth in her office for almost twenty minutes as she tried to wrap her head around the days events. She had been surprised to find the Republics most wanted ship and crew flying across her ships sensor readings. To find that one of them was her old boyfriend's best friend was another shocker. The biggest shock of them all was seeing the man she had thought was dead was also among them. Marcus had been right, she'd never even suspected that Carson was SC, he didn't seem like the type of man that would commit treason under any circumstances, yet there he was with that bunch of criminals.

She had yet to question them, she needed to prepare herself to see her dead boyfriend again. How could he have done that to her, how could he have allowed her to think he was dead. She'd been devastated when she'd found out he had died in the SC attack five years ago and now he was here, on her ship, being arrested for treason. Who knew what crimes he had committed whilst working for the SC, how could she not have seen him for who he really was.

Time after time he had sat with her whilst she had slandered the SC thinking that he shared her view. She had discussed everything with him including her work. A horrible thought occurred to her at that moment, had he been using her for information, had she just been some mission for him. She had fallen for him, given him her heart and all the time he could have just been using her. The thought made her feel physically sick and she resisted the urge to shout and throw things.

She had to keep her temper reigned in though, some her crew were already suspicious about her connection to the 'traitor' after her reaction to him on the Aurora's bridge. The last thing she needed was to give them any evidence of the relationship she'd had with him and of course she would have to ensure Marcus and Carson kept their mouths shut, she wasn't about to let this ruin her reputation. She had worked hard to make it to captain and earn the respect of her crew, if this got out she could lose that respect.

She would have to face him sooner or later and as far as she was concerned the sooner she got this over with the better. Her resolve in place and her emotions sufficiently hidden she left her office ignoring the stares of her crew and heading for the cells.

- - -

"Nice girl," Marcus commented from where he sat on the bed in the cell he was now sharing with Carson and Ronon. The floor and two of the walls were white, the front of the cell was a slightly blue tinted force field as was the wall leading into the next cell that John and Rodney were currently occupying. In the cell on the opposite side of the corridor were Elizabeth and Teyla, they'd all been a little more than relieved when they hadn't been completely separated from the girls again.

"Shut up," Carson replied and Lorne leaned back on the bed so that his back was against the wall.

"I can't believe you didn't tell me Laura was a Republic Officer," Marcus stated feeling slightly betrayed "I can't believe you dated a Republic officer in the first place, what were you thinking?"

"I didn't exactly plan it," Carson responded bitterly.

"Well you know what," Lorne began "I hope she kicks your ass. You were stupid enough to get involved with her in the first place and then you go and let the poor girl think you were dead for five years. If she decides to kick your ass then I am so going to cheer her on."

"Thanks," Carson replied and Marcus shrugged in time for the doors to the corridor to open. Laura came in dismissing the two guards that had followed her and approaching the cells.

"First person to tell me what your mission was gets to make a deal, the rest of you will most likely be executed for treason," she told them all bluntly pointedly not looking at Carson. When no one spoke Laura tried again "Okay let's start with something simple, names?" she questioned and the five elementals turned to look at Marcus as if asking permission to answer the question. "I should have known you'd be the leader," Laura commented before turning to the two girls.

Marcus gave them a quick nod and they both gave Laura their names before she turned to Rodney, John and Ronon. "Now why do you all have stitches in your necks?" she asked and Marcus stood up to speak.

"We were captured by the Genii and had devices designed to send jolts of debilitating pain ripping through our bodies," he explained and he was sure he saw horror and disgust flicker across Laura's face but it was gone as fast as it had appeared.

"What did the Genii want with you?" she asked him and Marcus shook his head.

"Not me, them," he replied gesturing to the five elementals.

"Okay, why did they want them?" she tried again and Marcus sighed preparing himself to be called insane yet again.

"Because they are the human incarnations of the basic elements of the universe, wind, water, fire, earth and just for kicks somebody added energy into the mix. We're on our way to stop a weapon of mass destruction from destroying the universe and ending all life as we know it," he explained and Laura's narrowed her eyes at him before she shook her head.

"You are insane," she told him and Marcus shrugged.

"Yeah, been getting that a lot recently," he informed her before continuing "We can prove it to you."

Laura cocked her head to the side and he could see her curiosity winning out "How?"

Marcus looked over at the elementals "Who wants to prove it?"

"I'll do it," Ronon stated stepping forward and focusing on the air in front of him. It didn't take him much effort to conjure up a decent sized ball of fire, now that he had control of his powers it came easily to him. Laura eyes widened in shock and she took a step back from the cell almost fearfully. Ronon sent the fire ball hurtling forward where it impacted the shield and disappeared.

"How did you do that?" Laura questioned the fear now obvious in her voice as she stared at the spot where the fireball had vanished.

"He's the human incarnation of the fire elemental," Marcus explained gently "You have to let us go, if you don't then we can't stop the weapon and everyone will die."

"You're terrorists, I can't let you go," she replied adamantly as she forced her gaze on to Marcus.

"We're not terrorists," Lorne shouted "The SC have never been traitors or terrorists, we don't commit crimes we simply protect the universe. The explosion at the research centre that was supposed to have killed Carson wasn't an SC bombing like you were told. It was an accident in one of the labs where the Republic were testing a new power source. Carson was sent in undercover as a scientist to see what he could learn about it and he was the only SC Agent in the building."

"It's true," Carson said finally finding his voice and stepping forward. Laura looked at him holding his gaze and searching his eyes for the truth unsure if she would even find it anymore. She had always thought she could tell if he was lying or telling the truth but apparently she had been wrong.

"Why should I believe you?" the question was meant for them all but mostly directed at Carson.

"Because if you keep us here you'll be responsible for the deaths of billions of people and I would say that you don't want that on your conscious but you'll be dead anyway," he replied flatly and Laura held his gaze for a moment longer before she turned and wordlessly walked away.

Carson moved to sit on the nearest bed with a heavy sigh and silence filled the room for several minutes before anyone spoke. "She doesn't seem like any Republic Agent I've ever met," John commented to which Carson smirked.

"She's not," he replied "She's one of the few good ones."

"Do you think she'll help us?" Marcus questioned as he sat down beside his friend.

"I don't know," Carson responded honestly "I guess we'll just have to wait and see."

TBC


	17. Chapter 17

**Fyd818 – **I love aura too! Glad you liked the part where she was silently freaking out in her office and that the interrogation scene worked out well. Thanks for the review and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Steph7085 – **Thanks for the review, I'm glad you like this fic and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Izzles – **You'll just have to wait and see what Laura does lol. I'm glad you like the story and that I have you gripped. Thanks for the review; I hope you enjoy this chapter.

- - -

Chapter 17

They had pretty much been left alone in the cells for the last twenty four hours, the guards had brought them meals regularly. Laura had not come back to the cells since she'd seen Ronon use his power and Marcus figured she was probably making sure her sanity was intact. He had told the guards several times that he needed to speak with her, as well as the obvious end of the universe situation that needed to be dealt with; there was also the matter of the chip that was still in Carson's neck. Whilst that was not really his top priority he would feel much better when the thing was out of his friend's neck.

The doors opened to reveal the two guards that had come through every now and again to ensure they were behaving themselves. They walked past the only three occupied cells watching the occupants before turning to walk back out again.

"I need to speak with Captain Cadman," Lorne stated for what felt like the millionth time.

"She is aware of your desire to speak with her," the guard answered without even looking at him.

"Look can you just tell her… it's about Carson's life," Marcus said deciding he needed to get her attention and glad it wasn't really a lie. They didn't know what the chip could do to Carson if it remained in his neck and if it was accidentally triggered there was not telling what it could do especially if the setting increased as John's had.

The guard didn't answer him and left the room without another word leaving Marcus to only hope that they delivered his message. "What did you say that for?" Carson asked outraged at Marcus for using his relationship to get Laura's attention.

"We need to talk to her, besides there are probably doctors on this ship that can remove the device in your neck," Marcus explained but his friend clearly wasn't happy.

"The quicker we figure out how we're getting out of here the better," Ronon stated from where he was sitting on his bed. He'd been quiet over the last few hours, quieter than usual, in fact all five of them had. Even Rodney who usually didn't shut up had been almost silent, he hadn't complained once in at least four hours.

He was about to open his mouth to comment on it when the doors opened once gain except this time it was Laura that walked through, apparently his message had been delivered. He walked to the front of the cell whilst Carson merely sat down with a heavy sigh.

"What do you want?" she asked bluntly clearly in no mood for pleasantries.

"Well I'd actually like to get out of this cell," Marcus stated and she narrowed her eyes at him in a glare that would have sent most men running, however since he was stuck in a cell running would get him nowhere.

"You said it was about Carson's life," she replied and Marcus could here the concern she was trying to hide in her voice, it almost made him smile.

"The devices I told you about that the Genii put in our necks, Carson's hasn't been removed yet," he told her and she nodded her head.

"You want me to get my doctors to remove it?" she questioned.

"Carson can talk them through the procedure but he can't exactly do it himself," he explained and she turned and walked toward the door but didn't leave. Instead she spoke to one of the guards who gave her a quick nod before leaving.

"Tell me about the weapon," she instructed as she walked back over to the cell.

"I don't really know anything about it, unfortunately the council has proved to be less than sharing on this one," he said somewhat bitterly remembering all the surprises he'd had dropped on him over the last couple of weeks. "All I do know is that it has the power to destroy the universe and everything in it. The only way we can stop it is by getting these five people to its location."

"How will they be able to stop it?" she questioned.

"I don't know, I don't even think the Council knows that one, we'll have to figure it out when we get there," he told her honestly.

"Where is the weapon?" she asked after a moment.

"Atlantis," he stated and she looked at him curiously.

"Atlantis has been abandoned for centuries, the planet's tectonic activity makes it too dangerous to live on," she responded and Marcus shrugged.

"That's where it is though," he told her just as a man entered the room, his greying hair giving away his age and the white coat informing them of his most likely occupation.

"Dr Warner," Laura greeted with a small smile. "I'll leave Marcus to explain the situation to you since he knows more about it than I do and then Carson can walk you through what you need to do, let me know when you're ready to begin the procedure," she ordered receiving a quick 'yes ma'am' before she left.

- - -

Laura was sitting patiently on one of the beds in the infirmary waiting for news of Carson's surgery. It was strange, sitting here worrying about the possibility of him dieing when two days ago she has thought he was dead. It hadn't taken long for the feelings she had thought were long since gone to come back to the surface. When she had first seen him on the Aurora's bridge she had just been numb, she hadn't been able to feel anything for several hours but as the truth began to sink in her feelings had made themselves known.

She wasn't sure who she was angrier at, Carson for letting her think he was dead or herself for loving him anyway. In less than forty eight hours her whole world, everything she thought she knew was turned upside down.

Her dead ex boyfriend wasn't dead, her crew were whispering about her every time they saw her, the SC didn't appear to be the terrorists she believed them to be, she had a bunch of prisoners in her cells that had super powers and she was facing the possibility of the universe being destroyed. She almost wanted to laugh at the entire situation… almost.

A noise by the door forced her attention out of her thoughts and onto the gurney that was being wheeled into the room. Carson's still unconscious body was lying on it as Dr Warner and two nurses settled him into the infirmary. The doctor allowed the nurses to finish the job and walked to where Laura was now standing.

"The surgery was completely successful, I have to say Dr Beckett was very clever to have come up with it," he commented and Laura suppressed a smile. "He should be awake in a couple of hours."

She nodded her head and turned to look at Carson, she wanted to stay until he woke up but as the Captain she didn't have that luxury. She had her duties to attend to as well as the situation with the prisoners. "Let me know when he wakes up," she instructed receiving a small nod as Warner went back to his patient. Laura looked at Carson for several moments ignoring the stares of her medical staff; she had gone way past the point of caring about what they thought.

With one deep, quick deep breath she turned around and headed toward the cell. Picking up the communication device on her belt she contacted the bridge and informed them of their change of course. The Lieutenant currently at the helm sounded confused but didn't question her orders as he informed her it would take five days to reach their new location.

- - -

Carson woke in the infirmary and tried to look around as he got his bearings. The pull in the back of his neck provided all the reminder he needed of his current situation. Dr Warner hurried over to the bed when he saw that his patient was awake and already attempting to sit up. He told one of his nurses to contact the captain and the young woman quickly scurried away to do as she'd been told.

"Relax, Dr Beckett," he instructed and Carson tried to bat his hand away.

"I'm fine," he stated but Warner was not going to be so easily deterred and he placed a hand on Carson shoulder pushing him back down to the bed.

"You've just had surgery, you should take it easy for a while," he told him adamantly but Carson didn't cease his struggle to sit up.

"You know I've done this surgery on six people in the last week and all of them were up and about within a few hours, even the one who had complications so there's no need to keep me in this bed," Carson informed him adamantly but stopped his struggle when he saw the small smile on Warner's face.

"It's true, doctors really do make the worse patients," he commented "The only patient I've ever had worse than you is the Captain."

"I'd be careful if I were you," a female voice stated and they both turned to see Laura walking in with a smile on her face.

"I was simply stating a fact," Warner informed her and Laura's smile widened before she turned to Carson.

"How is he doing?" she asked.

"He'll be fine and if he absolutely insists, he can go back to his cell," Warner replied before leaving the two of them alone.

"You should know we're on our way to Atlantis," Laura told him and Carson resisted the urge to nod his head.

"You believe us?" he questioned.

"I'm not sure yet, I don't doubt that you have five powerful people with you but I'm not sure about the rest of your story yet," she replied and Carson studied her for a moment.

"I never meant to hurt you," he told her.

"Yet that's what you did," she replied her eyes locked with his and he could see just how much he had hurt her.

"I didn't plan it, I was injured in the explosion and when I woke up I was already on… in a secret SC base. They told me that I'd been reported as a casualty of the bombing and as far as the rest of the universe was concerned I was dead. Marcus didn't even know I was alive and I've known him since the day I was born," Carson desperately tried to explain. "I do love you know, that never changed."

She looked down at the floor for a moment as she composed herself, his words having affected her more than she wanted them too or at least more than she was willing to admit she wanted them too. "I have work to do and if that involves preventing the destruction of the universe then the rest of this discussion is going to have to wait."

"Aye," Carson said sadly as he stood up "Back to my cell then?" he questioned and Laura nodded her head indicating form one of the guards that had been following him around to take him back to his cell.

- - -

Carson had been returned to the cell several hours ago with several stitches in the back of his neck and no pain causing device. They'd been told they were heading for Atlantis but hadn't been told anything since then. They were becoming increasingly agitated as time went on, to be specific the elementals were becoming more and more agitated, Marcus and Carson weren't exactly happy about the situation but for whatever reason the five elementals were really, really agitated.

John was currently sitting on the floor near the blue force field at the front of the cell. He had his knees pulled up near his chest and his elbows resting on them as he forced his hands to remain still. He was restless and being stuck in the cells wasn't helping any of them. Rodney was currently sitting on the bed shuffling about incessantly, Elizabeth was sitting on the bed in her cell drumming her fingers on her knee, Teyla was stood leaning against the wall ringing her hands together and Ronon was pacing back and forth annoying the other two occupants of his cell.

Marcus was watching them all closely and had been for some time, the changes in their behaviour over the course of the day were more than obvious. "What's wrong with you all?" He asked them receiving incredulous looks from all of them "Okay, apart from the obvious being stuck in a cell thing," he added.

"I don't know… I just feel… restless," John tried to explain sighing when it didn't adequately describe his feelings.

"It's almost like a nervous agitation," Teyla mused her voice showing her own exasperation with the situation and Marcus looked thoughtful for a moment.

"Ronon sit down," he snapped when the man's pacing interrupted his thoughts. Ronon didn't sit down but he did stop pacing, instead he stood still and glared at Marcus as he applied a phenomenal amount of self control to not start pacing again.

"I feel like we need to hurry," Elizabeth continued their conversation receiving several murmurs of agreement from the other elements.

"The weapon is going to activate soon," John said slowly and Marcus and Carson snapped their heads round in his direction whilst the elementals only nodded their heads.

"How do you know?" Carson asked apprehensively.

"We can feel it," Rodney supplied gravely and Marcus shared a quick glace with Carson before he walked quickly over to the blue force field.

"Guard!" he shouted but didn't get a response quick enough "Guard!" he called again and a moment later the guard walked into the room. "I need to speak with Captain Cadman, now!"

TBC


	18. Chapter 18

**Steph7085 – **Thanks for the review, this is the penultimate chapter so I hope you enjoy it.

**Izzles – **My fingers are crossed for Laura and Carson too lol. Thanks for the review, I hope you enjoy this chapter, next one's the last.

**Fyd818 – **I'm glad you liked the part where Ronon was pacing the cell it just seemed like a very him thing to do. Thanks for the review, this is the second to last chapter so I hope you enjoy it. I hope you're feeling better!

- - -

Chapter 18

Laura entered the cells and took in the sight before her, Marcus and Carson were stood near the force field of their cell talking in urgent tones. The others were all either pacing their cells or stood ringing their hands together in an extremely agitated manner. She had received three messages from Marcus telling her he needed to see her immediately, unfortunately she'd been trying to convince the Republic that her trip to Atlantis was necessary at the time. The conversation had not gone well and even through the slightly distorted image of the transmission she had been able to see they were less than pleased.

"What's going on?" she questioned when it became apparent none of them had noticed her enter the room.

"How long until we get to Atlantis?" Marcus asked her immediately.

"Just over four days, why?" she queried.

"Is there any way to get us there faster," Marcus questioned and it hit Laura that more questions were being exchanged than answers in this conversation.

"Not without risking tearing my ship apart," she replied resisting the urge to add another question to the mix.

"You might wanna risk it," he told her seriously and she studied him for a moment before looking around at the very agitated elementals and decided another question was necessary.

"What's going on?" she asked repeating her first question.

"We think the weapon is going to be activated soon," he explained.

"How do you know?" she questioned.

"They can feel it," he told her and she once again looked at the five people he was gesturing too. If it was possible they looked even more irritated than they had when she'd entered the room only minutes ago. Ronon, John and Teyla were all pacing back and forth whilst the other two rung their hands together in an effort to remain still. Under different circumstances the scene might have been comical but right now all it was doing was scaring her.

"Every single part of me is screaming to hurry this up," Rodney stated a note of annoyance in his voice.

"If I push the engines I may be able to cut it down to three days," she informed them "But that's the best I can do."

"It'll have to be good enough then," Lorne stated.

"There's one more thing, they need their stitches removing," Carson added and Laura nodded her head. 

"I'll have Dr Warner take care of it," she replied as she left the room to get her pilot to fly the ship faster. She knew it was dangerous but the looks on Marcus's and Carson's faces and the state of the five elementals left her in no doubt as to the truth of their story. She would just have to disobey the Republic's orders and try to salvage her career later, at least this way there'd be a later. Thankfully none of her crew had been privy to her conversation with the Republic and therefore would follow her orders without too many questions.

- - -

The remaining three days passed with an excruciating lack of speed. The elementals had learned to deal with the constant agitation they felt though it had lessened slightly as they neared Atlantis. They'd been kept in their cells even though Laura had wanted to let them out, they were still considered criminals and none of this changed that. She would probably be arrested right along with them when all this was over.

Finally Atlantis was visible through the front window of the ship, unfortunately they couldn't get sensor readings through the atmosphere. She relinquished control of the bridge to her second in command who despite not agreeing with the trust she had placed in the prisoners had followed her every order. She contacted the guards that were in the cells and instructed them to escort Marcus and the others to the shuttle bay.

When she arrived the team that were going down to the planet had already assembled, there were fifteen armed men and women that were all prepared to follow orders they didn't agree with or even understand. She had kept the specifics of their reason for coming here quiet for fear she'd wake up one morning strapped to an infirmary bed with Dr Warner telling her she had finally gone insane.

The noise behind her informed her that the prisoners had arrived, Marcus was making a fuss about being man handled by the guards and she allowed herself a moment to be amused by the scene. The others were all co-operating allowing the guards to keep hold of their arms as they were brought to the shuttle bay. She nodded and the men let go of the prisoners and walked away.

"Are you ready?" Laura asked noticing the nervous looks on the elementals faces that hadn't been there before. She supposed being the saviours of the universe put a little pressure on them and they didn't even know what was going to happen.

"Let's just get this over with," Ronon grunted having had enough of being constantly nervous and agitated. Laura nodded and they all approached one of the two shuttles that was heading down to the surface. They sat down and strapped themselves in as the Republic Officers did the same and within a few minutes they were heading for the surface.

The shuttle glided out of the shuttle bay and into space where Marcus, Carson and the elementals all got their first glimpse of Atlantis. There was a beeping from a console near the pilots seat and the man glanced at it as he continued to fly the shuttle.

"Several ships are dropping out of hyperspace," he announced Laura was afraid the Republic had arrived and the jig was up. If her crew were ordered to stop they would have no choice but to do so. "They're Genii."

For a moment her surprised mind wondered if that was better or worse than the Republic showing up. She quickly shook the thought out of her head to deal with the problem at hand.

"How many ships?" she questioned.

"Five, no wait six, seven, seven ships," he informed her and Laura's eyes widened there was no way her ship could stand up to that many Genii ships. She was trying to figure out exactly what to do when the console beeped again and the pilot announced more ships were arriving.

"They're not Genii," he announced in confusion "They're… I do know what they are."

Marcus freed himself from the straps on his chair and stood up ignoring the many protests that were shouted at him. He made his way toward the pilot grabbing the back of his seat for support as he announced there was an incoming transmission. Marcus leaned in to get a closer look and a smile spread across his face. "They're Secret Council," he declared shaking his head and pressing the button to answer the transmission.

Jack's face appeared on the screen in front of him a moment "Hey Marcus, thought you could use a hand," he stated.

"It's very much appreciated," Marcus replied.

"We'll keep them off you, just get the elementals to the weapon and end this thing," he instructed and Marcus nodded his head.

"Yes sir," he responded before he cut off the transmission and turned to see the faces of the Republic crew, including Laura looking at him in shock. "Are you really going to complain about them helping us out right now?" he questioned incredulously.

"Just get us to the planet," Laura ordered the pilot as she shook her head.

- - -

The surface of the planet was as violent as the fight currently occurring in space. The tectonic activity shook the ground and pockets of red hot steam constantly broke through the surface.

"Captain," one of the Republic officers called and Laura turned to him. He looked down at the small hand scanner he was holding and then back up at her. "I'm detecting a massive build up of energy coming from that direction," he told her and Laura nodded.

"That must be the weapon," Marcus stated only moments before a bullet flew past him narrowly missing his head. They all dropped down using the large rocks as cover and began to return fire. They spotted the Genii uniforms that their attackers were wearing. Marcus, Carson and the elementals had not been allowed to carry weapons so the elementals were forced to use their abilities to fight back. The entire Republic crew were shocked into paralysis as fireballs and water orbs flew across the space in between the Republic and Genii. Elizabeth used her own abilities both on their own and in conjunction with John and Ronon. Neither Teyla or Rodney used their powers and Marcus turned to look at the frozen crew.

"Either give me a weapon or start shooting you morons," he shouted "Preferably both."

Laura gestured for Marcus, Carson and the two remaining elementals to be given weapons and the Republic officers finally began firing back. "Marcus, come in," Jack's voice called through the radio attached to Marcus's belt and he ducked behind the rock to answer it.

"Lorne here," he replied as he tried to return the Genii fire.

"You guys nearly done down there?" he asked "Cos we're having a few problems up here."

"The Genii are here, they have us pinned down," Marcus told him as he ducked to avoid the bullets being sent his way.

"Well you might wanna hurry it up, we're shooting the Genii, the Genii are shooting us, the Republic arrived a few minutes and they're shooting everyone," Jack informed him and Marcus cursed under his breath. There was no way the few SC ships could hold off both the Genii and the Republic.

"Laura," he called and broke cover to run between the rock he was hiding behind and the one she was using as cover. He was nearly hit several times but he made it without injury. "The Republic showed up and they're giving us hell you need to tell them to attack the Genii and not the SC."

Laura looked uncertain for a moment, she knew if she did this there would be no going back. As it was she might be able to worm her way out of prison but if she did this they would brand her as a collaborator and traitor and she'd probably be executed along with them. She sighed as she reached for her own radio and opened a channel to the Republic ships in orbit.

"Republic ships, this is Captain Cadman, please respond," she said into the device a moment later a male voice responded.

"This is Captain Andrews, go ahead," he greeted flatly.

"You have to stop firing on the SC ships…" she stated only to be cut off

"The SC are traitors, they need to be arrested," Andrews protested in outrage and both Laura and Marcus had to duck to avoid the bullets being sent their way.

"They only showed up to save us, just focus on the Genii for now and we can sort the rest out later," she instructed in frustration before cutting off the transmission and refocusing on the fire fight.

"We're running out of time," John shouted as he felt his agitation return full force, the weapon was going to fire any minute, he could feel it.

Teyla abruptly stood up thankfully being missed by the bullets "Teyla get down," Ronon shouted but she didn't listen, instead she closed her eyes and continued to stand there.

John, Ronon and Marcus made a move toward her but Elizabeth stopped them. "Wait," she shouted over the noise "She using her powers."

Teyla opened her eyes again and stared straight ahead at the Genii troops, she lifted her hands in front of her and the same white light that had emanated from her in the Genii cells fired from her hands. This was different from either of the powers she had used then. It was a focused beam similar to the one she had used to take out the guard pinning Elizabeth to the wall but it had the same power and intensity as the wave that had emanated from her first.

It blasted through the rocks that were protecting the Genii and killed them all easily. She had only taken out half of them when Marcus's voice broke through the shocked silence that had settled over the group. "Teyla stop, you need your energy," Marcus instructed and Teyla immediately did as she was told before she dropped back behind the relative safety of the rock.

With less Genii firing at them and the ones that remained to shocked to do much, part of the group was able to break cover and head toward the energy build up they were detecting. Marcus, Laura, Carson and the elementals made their way away from the fight and were approaching a cave entrance when they came under fire again.

"Where are you all coming from?" Marcus questioned rhetorically as they were forced to take cover again. They were massively outnumbered now though and within minutes the Genii had gained too much ground. They moved forward pointing their weapons at the smaller group as their leader stepped forward. "Kolya," John spat angrily resisting the urge to kill him right then and there. Elizabeth's explanation of why Teyla had used her powers aboard the Genii ship came into his mind quickly.

"You led us right here," Kolya smirked.

They were all quickly disarmed of their weapons and John could see several men with the devices used to implant the chips in their necks. Except for Rodney the elementals all prepared to use their powers to defend themselves but Marcus put a hand up to stop them.

"No, save your energy," he instructed and they all reluctantly complied. There was no way John was letting himself or anyone else end up with those chips in their necks again though, if Kolya tried anything John would be more than ready to drown his ass. "Kolya," Marcus began "The weapon is going to go off any minute, if you don't let us go we're all going to die."

"My people will take a look at the weapon, I'm sure one of them will find a way to stop it," he told them confidently.

"The only way to stop it is to allow these people to do their job," Marcus informed him and Kolya smirked maliciously.

John creased his forehead in pain when a sudden ringing began in his ear, Elizabeth and Teyla put their hands over their ears in a futile effort to block out the sound. Rodney was holding his head and Ronon like John was trying not to react to it. "The weapon is about to fire," Teyla whispered through her ragged breathing.

"Kolya, let them go!" Marcus shouted but Kolya did nothing.

"Make it stop," Rodney shouted his voice full of pain "Stop" he shouted even louder and the ground beneath them began to shake more violently than before. However the ground beneath the Genii was shaking so much that they couldn't even keep their balance. Then a crack began to appear which quickly spread between the Genii before the ground split in two leaving a large gap in the middle. Several of the Genii soldiers fell down and many of the others ran away. Eventually only Kolya and three others remained and as the ground continued to spread apart Kolya drew his weapon and aimed it at Rodney.

He moved to squeeze the trigger but John was faster, he sent a large orb of water in Kolya's direction. Three smaller orbs split off from it but the main orb did not diminish in size. John kept his concentration on the main orb as Elizabeth used her own power to guide the remaining three to their targets successfully knocking out the remaining Genii.

John wanted to ensure that Kolya didn't get back up to threaten them again and he focused all of his attention on increasing the size and speed of the final orb as it hurtled toward Kolya. He registered the impacts of his other orbs only moments before the final one hit a surprised Kolya. It hit him so hard he was thrown back by the force of the impact and his body fell down the large gap. His scream could be heard for several moments before it faded out completely. John breathed out heavily and took a moment to catch his breath before they all headed inside the cave.

They made their way through the narrow entrance and along the tunnel which only got more narrow. When they emerged in the cavern they were all stunned by what they saw.

A bright white orb which seemed to be getting bigger and brighter by the second was hovering above a machine imbedded in the ground. Around it were five stone podiums that were just big enough for a person to stand on. They approached the weapon and noticed each podium had a symbol on which matched the ones on their arms.

"This is it," John said apprehensively and they stared at the machine until John finally stepped forward and located the podium that had his symbol on it. Elizabeth was next taking up her place on the podium beside John. Rodney was on the other side of him followed by Teyla and finally Ronon.

John reached out his hand to Elizabeth and she took it immediately, what felt like a jolt of electricity passed through their arms and they knew instinctively what they had to do. John reached out his hand to Rodney who stared at it warily before taking it. Elizabeth reached out to Ronon who took her hand and then Teyla's. Teyla and Rodney finally joined hands and completed the circle. As their hands joined they all felt the same jolt of electricity run through their entire the bodies and the white orb suddenly grew far bigger encompassing them all in the light. The air was blown violently outwards trying to push them all back from the podiums but they stayed where they were.

They felt the energy being drained from their bodies as small coloured orbs appeared in front of them. Red for Ronon, blue for John, green for Rodney, yellow for Elizabeth and white for Teyla. The orbs continued to grow as the energy drained from their bodies leaving them with barely enough to stand. They finally stopped growing and moved slowly to join the white orb in the middle disappearing into it. The white light exploded around them and they all had to close their eyes and look away to prevent being blinded by it. The light was so bright though that it shone through their eyelids and as the light began to disappear so did consciousness.

Marcus, Carson and Laura watched helplessly as the five elementals did their jobs. They closed their eyes and put their arms over their faces to block out the light when it became to bright. When the light finally faded enough they opened their eyes in time to see the white orb shrink into nothingness. The five elementals fell to the floor and Marcus, Carson and Laura ran over to them.

Marcus knelt down beside John and turned him over onto his back. He wasn't breathing and when Marcus put two fingers to his neck he found no pulse. "He doesn't have a pulse," Marcus stated in alarm.

"Neither does she," Carson said from where he knelt at Teyla's side and he leaned across to feel Ronon's neck. He shook his head giving Marcus all the information he needed. He looked across at Laura who had her fingers to Elizabeth's neck and she too shook her head. He leaned over to Rodney to find him in the same condition as the others and he sighed as Laura stood up and grabbed her radio.

He vaguely heard her ordering her people around but the exact words were lost on him as he gazed at the unmoving forms of the elementals. These people had become his friends over the last few weeks and now they were gone.

TBC


	19. Chapter 19

**Fyd818 – **I know that really was a mean cliffie, I think I might actually be one of my worst lol. I'm glad you liked the fight scene and the final scene, they were the scenes that inspired the whole fic so I'm glad they worked out alright. I'm kinda sad this story is ending too but such is the fate of all things lol. Thanks for the review, I hope you enjoy the final chapter.

**Suzotchka1 – **Thanks for the review, I hope you enjoy the final chapter.

**Steph7085 – **It was experience, I've been hanging around with you way too long lol. (dodges slap and flying sporks) I know that was a really mean cliff hanger and I do feel slightly guilty about it. Hope this chapter makes up for it, thanks for the review.

- - -

Chapter 19

Sounds.

It was the first thing he became aware of, they were all jumbled together and he couldn't tell what any of them were. Slowly they began to separate and it became easier to distinguish one from the other and figure out what they were. He could here voices and a machines that were all making regular beeping sounds. Opening his eyes slowly he allowed himself to adjust to the level of light in the room. He was disoriented an confused at first but as the haze in his mind disappeared his memories came back to him.

"John," a familiar male voice said and John turned his head to locate the source. It took him a moment for his brain to come up with correct name for the face

"Carson?" he questioned his voice sounding strained as though he hadn't used it in a long time. Carson picked up a glass of water from the table beside his bed and helped him to take a sip before John tried speaking again, this time his voice sounded a little stronger. "What happened?"

"What's the last thing you remember?" another man asked and it took John a moment to recognise him as Marcus and the blonde next to him as Laura.

"We found the weapon… we stopped it?" he questioned knowing that if they were all still there they must have done but it never hurt to be sure.

"You did," Marcus told him "but you all…" Marcus paused as f trying to figure out how to explain the rest of the story. "You all died, we were able to get you to Laura's ship in time to resuscitate you but it's been touch and go ever since. There were times we thought you weren't going to make it."

John closed his eyes as he tried to take in everything he was being told and when he opened them again he only had one question. "The others?"

"They were resuscitated as well though you're the first to wake up," Carson told him stepping aside so John could see the rest of the room for the first time. In the bed next to him was Elizabeth's unconscious form attached to various machines. He strained his neck slightly to see Rodney in the next bed followed by Teyla and Ronon.

"Are they okay?" he asked.

"We won't know for sure until they wake up but all your conditions have being improving over the last week so I'm fairly certain they'll all wake up soon enough," Carson explained.

"How long have we been unconscious?" he questioned and watched as Marcus and Carson exchanged a glance.

"Three months," Marcus replied and John could only nod his head in response as he once again collected his thoughts together.

"Where are we?" he asked.

"The infirmary of Republic headquarters, a lot's changed in the last few months. I won't get into the details now but suffice to say than none of us are under arrest," Marcus informed him. "Just take it easy and concentrate on getting better, we'll explain everything to you later."

- - -

Ronon woke up only a few hours after John and after several failed attempts to get out of bed he grudgingly accepted his fate and laid still. Despite having spent the last three months unconscious John felt tired. He kept glancing at Elizabeth's bed wishing he could go over to her but he knew he didn't have the energy to cross the short distance let alone make it back before Carson found him. Instead he listened to her heat monitor, he'd singled it out from all the others and used it to reassure himself she was okay even if he couldn't go over there and see for himself. His own heart monitor had been removed shortly after he'd woke up for which he was grateful, it was somewhat unsettling to hear the beeps that signified your own heart beat.

When night finally came he forced himself to sleep but it seemed like he had only just closed his eyes when the noise in the infirmary woke him. Marcus, Carson and Laura were stood around Teyla's bed along with a couple of nurses who left after a few moments. He saw Teyla wake up looking just as confused and disoriented as he did though she seemed to take the news of their three month coma without so much as batting an eyelid. He supposed being put to sleep for four years had given her some perspective though.

Once he was sure Teyla was okay and all but a handful of people once again vacated the infirmary John fell easily back to sleep. When he woke up the next morning Ronon was already out of his bed and sitting in the chair next to Teyla's as the two of them conversed quietly. Carson came into the room giving him a disproving look but made no attempt to move him before he walked over to John.

"I suppose you'll be wanting to get up too," he stated and John didn't have to answer the question before Carson helped him to get up and move over to Elizabeth's bed. His legs seemed to have forgotten how to move though and the task was more difficult than it ought to have been. John was immensely relieved when he was able to reach out and hold Elizabeth's hand.

Marcus and Laura arrived a few hours later, Marcus took up a position next to Rodney whilst Laura went to talk to Carson. He didn't fail to notice the affectionate looks or touches they shared and he turned questioningly to Marcus. "I take it they figured things out," he stated and Marcus shrugged.

"They've been virtually inseparable since we got here," he told him and Marcus nodded.

"Why are we here and why aren't we under arrest?" Ronon questioned and Marcus turned his head to look at the tall Satedan.

"We're here because they had the facilities we needed to help you and you're not under arrest because Laura convinced her superiors of what happened on Atlantis," Marcus explained, his tone making it clear that he wasn't going to explain further.

The rest of the day passed slowly with neither Rodney or Elizabeth waking up and John was forced, by a very insistent Carson, to leave Elizabeth's side and return to his own bed. Ronon took a little longer to persuade but he too returned to his bed.

When John woke the next morning he felt better than he had since he'd woke up from his coma. He was able to move to Elizabeth's bed without help though it still proved to be a difficult task. An hour later Elizabeth finally woke up, her hand tightened unconsciously around John's and clung to it whilst Marcus and Carson explained the situation to her. When they finally left her alone she turned onto her side to face John and a small smile spread across her face.

"Hey," she whispered and John returned her smile as he tucked her hair behind her ear.

"Hey," he replied and looked over her shoulder to where Marcus, Carson and Laura had gone through to an office attached to the ward and Ronon and Teyla were pointedly giving them their privacy.

"When did you wake up?" she asked him.

"About two days ago, Ronon woke up a few after me and Teyla a few hours after him and you know Rodney, man likes his sleep so we could be here a while waiting for him," he joked eliciting the smile he'd been aiming for.

"I heard that Sheppard," a croaky male voice stated and his head snapped up to see Rodney waking. Elizabeth turned around on her bed so she could see him and John heard Ronon shouting for Carson who came running into the room with Marcus and Laura.

After being reassured he wasn't dead or injured in anyway Rodney finally settled back down just in time to freak out about being in a coma for three months. John barely moved from Elizabeth side for the rest of the day despite Carson's protests that he need to be in his bed. By the time John finally decided he needed to sleep Ronon, Teyla and Rodney were asleep and Carson and the others had left for the night. He brushed a gentle kiss over Elizabeth's lips before standing and returning to his own bed. John stayed awake until he heard Elizabeth breathing even out indicating she was asleep before he allowed himself to sleep.

- - -

The following few days were a blur as the elementals recovered from their coma, it took their bodies a while to return to full working order and even then none of them were in the same physical shape they had been. They were finally released from the infirmary and given temporary quarters in Republic Headquarters. They'd barely had time to settle in before they'd been dragged back out again and taken to what looked like a briefing room.

Marcus and Carson were both there along with two other people who gestured for the elementals to sit down.

"Guys, this is Councillor Jack O'Neill and Councillor Samantha Carter of the Secret Council," Marcus introduced.

"First of all," Jack began "I want to say thank you and well done, you all saved the universe. Secondly, Carson, you'll be glad to know you're no longer dead."

"That's nice," Carson replied be fore Jack continued.

"Now I know Marcus has explained part of the situation to you all but we wanted to wait until you were all awake and on the road to recovery before we got into all the details with you," Jack explained. "Captain Cadman was able to convince the Republic of the events that occurred on Atlantis. Her story was backed up by statements from other Republic officers who saw the light from the weapon and can I just say, it looked pretty from space too. The Secret Council and the Republic spent two months in talks over… well we talked about a lot of things so I won't bore you with them all and to be honest I don't even know half of what was said cause I was sleeping. The main point is that the SC are no longer branded as traitors, we're now actually a secret branch of the Republic which means we can continue are work with the co-operation of the Republic instead of their interference," Jack explained.

"There are jobs within the SC for all of you," Sam told them "If you want them, take your time to decide."

The meeting ended and the elementals all headed for their rooms, without a word Elizabeth and John went to the same room and Ronon smirked as he watched them go. He then hurried after Teyla so he could talk to her catching up with her just outside her room. She smiled in acknowledgement before entering her room and he followed her in.

"What can I do for you Ronon?" she questioned and now that the moment was here Ronon suddenly felt nervous. It wasn't the same nervousness he'd felt before they had stopped the weapon, this one was worse. He stood still for a moment trying to figure out how to say what he wanted to say and not coming up with the right words he decided on a different approach.

He kissed her, wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her flush against him, he kissed her. He had expected her to push him away so he was completely surprised when she kissed him back, he was so surprised that he pulled away from the kiss but didn't move far. He looked at her questioningly and read her answer in her eyes before she leaned up and kissed him again. This time he didn't pull back but instead he deepened the kiss and allowed his hands to find the skin beneath her top. She moaned softly at the small amount of contact and it was all the reassurance he needed that this was what she wanted. Their entire journey and every bad thing that had happened to them all over the last few months suddenly seemed completely worth it, as he edged them closer to the bed he realised it had all led him to this moment.

- - -

John's decision had been an easy one, after all what did he have to go back to? A pointless war that he probably never should have got involved in to begin with. The only deciding factor in his decision was Elizabeth but when she had informed him that she too was going to take up the SC's job offer his decision had been sealed. Rodney had agreed to stick around if they promised not to throw him into quite so many life threatening situations. Ronon had decided to take the job too but Teyla had been the reluctant one, they had locked her in a stasis pod for four years and now she was considering working for them.

She'd had a long talk with Jack though and something he'd said must have convinced her because she announced she too was going to accept the job offer. Laura was made the liaison between the Republic and the Secret Council which meant she'd be able to see Carson regularly. Rodney was placed on the SC science team which meant he'd mostly stay at SC headquarters unless his powers were needed elsewhere. The rest of them were made SC field agents with the promise they would be able to do most of their work together.

Ronon and Teyla had started sparring again in an effort to regain their strength, John preferred to just use the gym with Elizabeth and occasionally Rodney who wouldn't stay there more than fifteen minutes anyway.

John was currently lying in bed in his and Elizabeth's room at SC Headquarters watching as Elizabeth slept beside him. It was only just dawn and the first tendrils of light were coming through the window and landing on her face. She was laid on her side facing him and he mirrored her position so that he could simply watch her because she always looked so peaceful and content when she was sleeping.

He reached across to brush her hair behind her ear an action which had become a habit for him. He allowed his fingers to linger on her face gently caressing her cheek before tracing the line of her jaw and finally brushing across her lips. She began to stir slightly and he moved his hand to play with the curl of her hair below her ear. She opened her eyes slowly and smiled sleepily at him as she snuggled closer to him until her face was buried in his chest.

"What time is it?" she mumbled.

"6.30," he told her and she shifted backwards slightly so she could look up at him.

"And you felt the need to wake me up?" she questioned humorously and he smiled at her.

"No, I felt the need to do this," he told her capturing her lips with his own and even half asleep Elizabeth responded immediately. They were interrupted though when the radio on the nightstand crackled to life.

"John, you there?" Marcus's voice questioned and John momentarily considered ignoring it but instead he broke the kiss and reached across to grab the currently hated device.

"I'm here," he answered.

"We've got work to do so get your assess down here," Marcus's voice instructed and John sighed muttering a sarcastic and bitter 'yes sir' before throwing the radio back on the nightstand.

"I guess we'd better get up," Elizabeth stated and John kissed her deeply before getting out bed.

"If this is about paperwork again I'm gonna kill him," he muttered as he headed for the bathroom followed by Elizabeth.

The End

**Authors Note: Thanks to all my fantastic reviewers, you all keep me inspired and thanks to Steph for the beta. I hope you all enjoyed this story!**


End file.
